Moscow fears nuclear-armed France

Clearly, Moscow recalled that in 1980, French nuclear forces reached a level that the Soviet Union considered a threat of "unacceptable damage" to the USSR. At that time, France had around 540 warheads. Since then, the nuclear arsenal has been reduced by almost half, and the ground component of the nuclear forces has been eliminated.

Apparently, Moscow believed that Macron could say anything but would unlikely take any action, let alone rattle nuclear weapons. Of course, France's nuclear potential is much smaller than Russia's, but it is more than enough to bring about the total destruction of the European part of Russia.

"According to the Federation of American Scientists, France possesses 290 nuclear warheads, of which about 280 are deployed. Approximately 240 are stationed on SSNs (nuclear-powered submarines) of the French Navy, maintaining a constant presence at sea."

The air component of France's nuclear forces consists of 50 Rafale bomber-fighter jets, including 40 Air Force aircraft and 10 naval aircraft for launching ASMP cruise missiles. There are 40 thermonuclear warheads for the French Air Force and 10 warheads for the Navy's naval aviation. The yield of a single warhead is 300 kT.

The naval component of France's nuclear forces includes 4 Triomphant-class SSNs. The French fleet has two types of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs): M51.1 and M51.2, with a range of over 9,000 km. Each SSN can carry 16 M51 SLBMs, with each missile carrying 5-6 warheads, each with a yield of 100 kT.

Unlike the United Kingdom, whose nuclear forces are closely linked to those of the United States, France, although a NATO member, does not integrate its nuclear forces into the Alliance's command structure. The 2013 White Paper of the Ministry of Defense states that France's nuclear deterrence "ensures our independence in decision-making and our freedom of action in the framework of our international obligations, including in the case of any threat of blackmail that may be directed against us in the event of a crisis." President Macron explained in 2020 that France's nuclear forces are capable of inflicting absolutely unacceptable damage on the power centers of an aggressor state, including its political, economic, and military nerve centers.

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About the author. Mykhailo Honchar, expert in international energy and security relations.

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