Abstract
French Nuclear Forces, 2001
In February 1996, President Jac-ques Chirac announced several reforms for France's nuclear forces, including the withdrawal of several obsolete weapons systems and the modernization of others.
On September 16, 1996, France's 18 S3D intermediate-range missiles on the Plateau d'Albion were deactivated. Two years and $77.5 million later, the silos and complex were fully dismantled.
The South Pacific test facilities at Mururoa and Fangataufa have also been dismantled. France ceased producing weapons plutonium in 1992 and highly enriched uranium in 1996. In 1998, it began to dismantle the Marcoule reprocessing plant and the Pierrelatte enrichment facility.
Funding for France's nuclear deterrent is expected to remain fairly steady in 2001, at 15.8 billion francs ($2.3 billion).
Since the Gulf War, when France was unable to use the night-attack capability of the then-nuclear-only Mirage 2000N, the aircraft has been given some conventional capability. However, its primary assignment remains the nuclear strike role.
In July 1996, after 32 years of service, the Mirage 2000N's predecessor, the Mirage IVP, relinquished its nuclear role. The Mirage IVP's Air-Sol-Moyenne Porté (asmp) supersonic missiles may have been reassigned to the Mirage 2000N. Five Mirage IVPs were retained for reconnaissance missions; they belong to the 1/91 Gascogne squadron at Mont-de-Marsan. The remaining IVPs were stored at Cháteaudun.
The Rafale (B-301) will be France's multi-purpose navy and air force fighter-bomber for the twenty-first century. Its roles include conventional ground attack, air defense, air superiority, and nuclear delivery of the asmp and/or asmp-A. The navy's Rafale M will enter the inventory this year to form Squadron 12F at Landivisiau. Within two years it will replace the Super Étendard onboard the Charles de Gaulle. The air force's Rafale D will attain a nuclear strike role around 2005. The air force plans to buy 234 Rafales.
The asmp is equipped with a single TN 81 warhead. France has an estimated 60 operational asmps, but more may be in inactive storage. Reports on missile and warhead inventories conflict: A 1991 Sénat report said that France initially produced 80 warheads and 90 asmp missiles. But in May 1994, when 15 Mirage IVPs (plus three spares) still had nuclear roles, and only 45 Mirage 2000Ns were operational, President Frangois Mitterrand identified only 60 asmp missiles for use by both air force and navy aircraft.
Mitterrand did not disclose the number of warheads, however, and used slightly different language to describe the number of missiles assigned to the different types of aircraft. For the Mirage IVP, he used a fixed number: “We possess 15 missiles.” For the Mirage 2000N and Super Étendard aircraft, however, Mitterrand was less precise: “These forces possess 45 missiles,” indicating that the exact number may depend on the number of operational aircraft. Since then, an additional 15 Mirage 2000Ns have become operational. The longer-range asmp Amélioré, (asmp-A, sometimes called the “asmp Plus”), with a 500- rather than 300-kilometer range, is expected to enter service in 2007. The asmp-A may be equipped with a modified warhead, the TNA (tete nucléaire aero-portée).
French Nuclear Forces, 2001
France has built three aircraft carriers. The Clemenceau entered service in 1961, and the Foch in 1963. Both were modified to handle the AN 52 nuclear gravity bomb with Super Etendard aircraft; the AN 52 was retired in July 1991. Only the Foch was modified in 1981 to handle and store the replacement asmp, approximately 20 of which were allocated for two squadrons (about 24) Super Étendard aircraft. The Foch is thought to have routinely carried nuclear weapons until it was decommissioned.
The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier remains hampered by technical problems. Various problems encountered during sea trials delayed its delivery almost five years. The 40,500-ton carrier, with a crew of 1,850, can accommodate 35-40 aircraft. The navy plans to purchase 60 Rafale Ms, of which the first 16 will perform an air-to-air role. Missions for subsequent aircraft may include the asmp and/or the asmp-A. Until the first Rafale M squadron is introduced in 2002, the ship will carry a single squadron of Super Etendards (presumably with about 10 asmps). About 40 aircraft may be delivered as two-seaters.
France has spent over 20 billion francs ($2.8 billion) on the Charles de Gaulle, and is considering whether to include funding in its 2003-2008 defense spending plan for a second, possibly non-nuclear propelled, carrier.
The two Triumphant subs each carry 16 M45 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (slbms) with six of the new TN 75 warheads, which are assumed to have been tested at the Mururoa test site in 1995. The first, Le Triumphant, was rolled out from its construction shed in Cherbourg on July 13, 1993, and entered service in September 1996. The second, Le Téméraire, was commissioned six months behind schedule in December 1999 after successfully test launching an M45 missile that May. The schedule for the third, Le Vigilant, has slipped, and it will not be ready for launch until 2002 and for commissioning until July 2004.
Last September, France allocated 1.9 billion francs ($256.5 million) for a fourth Triomphant-class ssbn, scheduled to be operationally available in 2008. The total cost of the Triomph ant-class program is estimated at 96.3 billion francs ($13 billion). Until recently, the two older subs each carried 16 M4 slbms. Faced with Le Vigilant's delay, however, France has begun refitting L'lnflexi-ble to carry the newer M45 slbm—a necessary, albeit expensive, solution to match a reduced inventory of only three sets of slbms (two M45s and one M4). Without this refit, in certain situations France could deploy only two ssbns, as opposed to three. The remaining M4-equipped sub, Le Foudroyant, was refitted to carry the M4 in 1993. This system is widely reported to be armed with TN 70 or TN 71 warheads, although the French Ministry of Defense credits the M4 with only the TN 71.
A new slbm, the M51, will replace the M45, entering service in 2008 to coincide with the commissioning of the fourth Triomph ant-class sub. The M51 will eventually be carried on all operating nuclear subs, is expected to have a range of 8,000-10,000 kilometers, and to carry up to six warheads. It was initially planned to carry an entirely new type of warhead, the tno (tete nucléaire océanique), but the combination of costs, change of strategic requirements, and the cessation of nuclear weapon testing means that the missile will instead be equipped with a more robust version of existing designs. Cost disputes briefly brought M51 development to a halt last autumn, and efforts to control costs might force changes to missile specifications. The first flight test is scheduled for 2005.
France is thought to have already transitioned to an operational inventory of 288 warheads for two sets of M45 slbms and one set of M4 slbms, enough to arm three of the four ssbns. Of these four submarines, three are maintained in the operational cycle, although only one or two are normally “on station” in designated patrol areas, compared with three in the early 1990s.
The ssbn force is organized under the Force Océanique Stratégique and homeported at the lie Longue base in Brest. Under a new reorganization plan, the navy will base all its submarines at Brest, including nuclear attack submarines (ssns) formerly at Toulon. The ssbn command center at Houilles (Yvelines) will also transfer to Brest, although communication facilities will stay at Rosnay (Indre).
Communication with patrolling ssbns is also maintained with four C-160H Astarté communication relay aircraft. French ssbns are protected during operations by SSNs, maritime patrol aircraft, anti-submarine frigates, and minesweepers. Ssbn protection will be an important mission for the planned Barracuda-class ssn. Like the ssbns, French attack subs each have two crews to optimize their operational availability.
Last year, increased radioactivity in the cooling water of the Saphir, a Rubis Amethyste-class ssn, caused its recall for a nuclear core replacement. It is unclear whether the ssbns have similar reactor problems.