Lost in the mist of the recently concluded Olympics Games and the current United States' Presidential campaign is the fact that the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has completely transform France's overall nuclear posture in a period of just one year. Although this transformation had its roots in the mid 1990s under former president of Jacques Chirac, it was Sarkozy who will go on to fully implement the reforms Chirac envisioned. Among other things, Sarkozy's New Strategic Vision pledged France to reduce its overall nuclear stockpile, consolidate its armed forces and to slow the peace of next generation nuclear weapons design and development. The new French president even mentioned France's desire to rejoin the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) after a forty two years absent. All of this in the background of the release of the much anticipated White Paper on Defense and National Security which foment the nation's defense posture for the near-to-medium future. It is the attempt of this article to shed light on the French government new nuclear posture. Its weapon and delivery platforms, availabilities and weapons development.
More of the article can be find at:http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/military/fra-nuclear.htm
