![]() ![]() The French Ministry of Armed Forces’ budget for nuclear arms is thought to have been USD4.9 billion (EUR 4.5 billion) in 2019, a 10% rise over the previous year. To modernize its entire arsenal, France is developing a whole new range of next-generation weapons systems, such as new strategic nuclear submarines (SSBNs), missiles (SLBMs) to be carried by them, and cruise missiles to be launched by aircraft. & Korda, Matt 2021, as well as Kristensen Hans M. This last figure corresponds to the sum (50) of 40 operational warheads of “Air-launched systems (Bombers, etc.) ” and 10 non-operational stockpiles of “Air-launched systems (Bombers, etc.) ” The figures in this table are derived from Kristensen and others ( Kristensen Hans M. In a document submitted to the 2015 NPT Review Conference ( Government of France 2015), France reconfirmed such details in the president’s speech as follows: French warheads below 300 submarine-launched cruise missiles to number 16 per vessel and their ordnance to equate three vessels and air-launched cruise missiles to total 54. 2008), the commitment François Hollande fulfilled in due course (February 19, 2015) ( Hollande, François 2015). This follows President Sarkozy’s earlier statement that “France will reduce its number of warheads to 300 or less” (March 21, 2008) ( Sarkozy, Nicolas M. On the other hand, pegging its current stockpile at “under 300” warheads, Macron reaffirmed France’s nuclear posture anchored on two pillars, the nuclear submarine and strategic bomber fleets. Remarkably enough, he also called for France’s nuclear weapons to be managed as a jointly-held deterrent for the entire European Union’s collective security. In it, Macron, emphasizing nuclear deterrent as essential for safeguarding France’s defense, sovereignty, and freedom of action, also called for nuclear disarmament through multilateralism. On February 7, 2020, Emmanuel Macron gave a speech on France’s “Defense and Deterrence Strategy,” the first by a sitting French president in five years( Macron, Emmanuel 2020). In February 2020, President Trump demonstrated this by a trip to India to announce a sale of $3.5 billion, mainly in naval Seahawk helicopters.Īmerican arms makers tout sales abroad, both for their own corporate bottom line and for American foreign influence, especially in an era when funding nation-building is somewhere between controversial and impossible.PDF Version French nuclear weapons capability The United States regularly demonstrates the importance of arms sales abroad, including naval sales. ![]() ![]() The United States, Britain and Australia announced a security partnership for Australia to buy American nuclear-powered submarines and scrap the previous $40 billion French-designed submarine deal. Without arms sales, the French military-industrial partnership has less power to do such policing. But France’s arms sales abroad fell in 2020, much as the result of the global health crisis.įrance has a vital role in world policing, particularly in the former French Northwest Africa, which the United States largely leaves to France’s forces. In 2015-2019, France made a whopping 72% gain in arms sales, fueled in part by submarine sales to India and Brazil, similar to what it just lost to Australia. Its sophisticated defense industry cannot survive with domestic sales alone. The Biden administration announced a deal to help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines in an attempt to "reinforce alliances" and send a message to China. France on Thursday reacted with outrage to the announcements that the United States and Britain would help Australia develop submarines, and that Australia was withdrawing from a $66 billion deal to buy French-built submarines.Ĭharles Tiefer, ( ), a professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, is an expert on government contracting and the Arms Export Control Act.įrance suffered a crippling blow.
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