In 1952, France adopted a plan for the development of nuclear energy, which made it possible to create the necessary scientific and technological base. This plan was markedly peaceful. After the end of World War II, the French government had no intention of developing its own nuclear weapons and relied entirely on US guarantees.
However, Charles de Gaulle's return to power changed a lot. Prior to that, France conducted research in the framework of a joint nuclear program with Italy and Germany. Fearing that France would be drawn into a conflict with the USSR, he staked on the development of his own nuclear forces, beyond the control of the Americans. This caused an extremely negative reaction from the United States, where they feared the strengthening of the economic and military-political independence of France and the emergence of a potential geopolitical rival.
On June 17, 1958, Charles de Gaulle, at a meeting of the French Defense Council, approved the decision to develop national nuclear weapons and conduct nuclear tests. Soon, in the south-west of Algeria, in the area of the Regan oasis, construction began on a nuclear test site with a scientific center and a camp for research personnel.
On February 13, 1960, France conducted the first successful test of a nuclear explosive device (NED) at a test site in the Sahara Desert.
A snapshot of the site of the first French nuclear test taken from an aircraft
The first French nuclear test was codenamed "Blue Jerboa" ("Gerboise Bleue"), the power of the device was 70 kt. Later, three more atmospheric atomic explosions were carried out in this region of the Sahara. In these tests, nuclear weapons based on weapons-grade plutonium were used.
The location of the tests was not chosen very well; in April 1961, the fourth nuclear device was blown up with an incomplete fission cycle. This was done to prevent its capture by the rebels.
The first French nuclear warheads could not be used for military purposes and were purely experimental stationary devices. However, they made France the fourth member of the nuclear club.
One of the conditions for Algeria's gaining independence in 1962 was a secret agreement, according to which France was able to continue nuclear tests in this country for another 5 years.
In the southern part of Algeria, on the Hoggar granite plateau, a second In-Ecker test site and test complex was built for conducting underground nuclear tests, which was used until 1966 (13 explosions were carried out). Information about these tests is still classified.
Satellite image of Google Earth: Mount Taurirt-Tan-Afella
The site of the nuclear tests was the area of the Taurirt-Tan-Afella granite mountain, located on the western border of the Hogtar mountain range. During some tests, significant leakage of radioactive material was observed.
Particularly famous was the test codenamed "Beryl", which took place on May 1, 1962. The real power of the bomb is still kept secret, according to calculations, it should have been between 10 and 30 kilotons.
Due to an error in the calculations, the power of the bomb was much higher. Measures to ensure tightness at the time of the explosion turned out to be ineffective: the radioactive cloud dispersed in the air, and the molten rocks contaminated with radioactive isotopes were thrown out of the adit. The explosion created a whole stream of radioactive lava. The stream was 210 meters long.
About 2000 people were hastily evacuated from the test area, more than 100 people received dangerous doses of radiation.
In 2007, journalists and IAEA representatives visited the area. After more than 45 years, the radiation background of the rocks ejected by the explosion ranged from 7, 7 to 10 millirems per hour.
After Algeria gained independence, the French had to move the nuclear test site to the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls in French Polynesia.
From 1966 to 1996, 192 nuclear explosions were carried out on the two atolls. At Fangatauf, 5 explosions were made on the surface and 10 underground. The most serious incident occurred in September 1966, when the nuclear charge was not lowered into the well to the required depth. After the explosion, it was necessary to take measures to decontaminate part of the Fangatauf Atoll.
Defense bunkers in Mururoa Atoll
In Mururoa Atoll, underground explosions caused volcanic activity. Underground explosions led to the formation of cracks. The zone of cracks around each cavity is a sphere with a diameter of 200-500 m.
Due to the small area of the island, explosions were carried out in wells located close to each other and turned out to be interconnected. Radioactive elements accumulated in these cavities. After another test, the explosion occurred at a very shallow depth, which caused the formation of a crack 40 cm wide and several kilometers long. There is a real danger of rock splitting and separation and radioactive substances getting into the ocean. France still carefully conceals the harm caused to the ecology of this area. Unfortunately, the part of the atolls where nuclear tests were carried out are not visible in detail on satellite images.
A total of 210 atmospheric and underground nuclear tests were carried out by France in the period from 1960 to 1996 in the Sahara and on the islands of French Polynesia in Oceania.
In 1966, a French delegation led by de Gaulle paid an official visit to the USSR, where, among other things, the latest rocketry at the time was demonstrated at the Tyura-Tam test site.
Sitting in the photo, from left to right: Kosygin, de Gaulle, Brezhnev, Podgorny
In the presence of the French, the Kosmos-122 satellite was launched and a silo-based ballistic missile was launched. Eyewitnesses said that this made an indelible impression on the entire French delegation.
After de Gaulle's visit to the USSR, France withdrew from the military structures of NATO, remaining only a member of the political structures of this treaty. The headquarters of the organization was urgently transferred from Paris to Brussels.
Unlike Britain, the development of French nuclear weapons met with active opposition from the US authorities. The US authorities have banned the export to France of the CDC 6600 supercomputer, which France planned to use for calculations in the development of thermonuclear weapons. In retaliation, on July 16, 1966, Charles de Gaulle announced the development of his own supercomputer to ensure France's independence from imports of computer technology. However, despite the export ban, the CDC 6600 supercomputer was nevertheless brought into France through a dummy commercial firm, where it was secretly used for military development.
The first practical example of a French nuclear weapon was put into service in 1962. It was an AN-11 aerial bomb with a 60 kt plutonium nuclear charge. At the end of the 60s, France had 36 bombs of this type.
The foundations of French nuclear strategy were formed in the mid-1960s and were not seriously revised until the end of the Cold War.
The French nuclear strategy was based on several basic principles:
1. The French nuclear forces should be part of NATO's overall nuclear deterrent system, but France should make all decisions independently and its nuclear potential should be completely independent. This independence became the cornerstone of the nuclear doctrine, which was also the guarantee of the independence of the foreign policy of the French Republic.
2. Unlike the American nuclear strategy, which was based on the accuracy and clarity of the threat of retaliation, the French strategists believed that the presence of a purely European independent decision-making center would not weaken, but, on the contrary, strengthen the overall system of deterring the West. The presence of such a center will add an element of uncertainty to the existing system and thereby increase the level of risk for a potential aggressor. The situation of uncertainty was an important element of the French nuclear strategy; in the opinion of French strategists, uncertainty does not weaken, but enhances the deterrent effect. It also determined the absence of a clearly formulated and specific doctrine of the use of nuclear weapons.
3. The French nuclear deterrent strategy is a “containment of the strong by the weak”, when the task of the “weak” is not to threaten the “strong” with complete destruction in response to its aggressive actions, but to guarantee that the “strong” will inflict damage that exceeds the benefits, which he expects to receive as a result of aggression.
4. The basic principle of the nuclear strategy was the principle of "containment in all azimuths". French nuclear forces had to be able to inflict unacceptable damage on any potential aggressor. At the same time, in reality, the USSR and the Warsaw Pact were considered the main object of containment.
The creation of the French nuclear arsenal was carried out on the basis of the long-term plan "Kaelkansh-1", designed for 25 years. This plan included four military programs and provided for the creation of a three-component structure of the French nuclear forces, including aviation, land and sea components, which, in turn, were divided into strategic and tactical forces.
The first carriers of French nuclear bombs were the Mirage IVA bombers (combat range without refueling in the air, 1240 km).
To accommodate these bombers, nine air bases with the necessary infrastructure were prepared and 40 AN-11 atomic bombs were assembled (each bomber could carry one such bomb in a special container).
At the beginning of the 70s, a more advanced and safe nuclear aerial bomb AN-22 with a plutonium nuclear charge with a capacity of 70 kt was adopted.
Bomber "Mirage IV"
A total of 66 vehicles were built, some of them converted into scouts. 18 aircraft were upgraded in 1983-1987 to the "Mirage IVP" level.
KR ASMP
These aircraft were armed with an ASMP (Air-Sol Moyenne Portee) supersonic cruise missile with a launch range of about 250 km. It was equipped with a 300 kt nuclear warhead, such as TN-80 or TN-81.
In 1970, on the Albion plateau (in the south of France), on the territory of the Saint-Cristol airbase, the construction of launching positions and the necessary infrastructure of silo missile systems with S-2 MRBMs began. The first squadron, consisting of nine silos with S-2 MRBMs, began combat duty in the summer of 1971, and the second squadron in April 1972.
Sectional view of a silo launcher for a French S-2 medium-range ballistic missile.
1 - concrete protective roof of the entrance hatch; 2 - eight-meter shaft head made of high-strength concrete; 3-rocket S-2; 4 - movable protective mine roof; 5 - the first and second tiers of service platforms; 6-protective roof opening device; 7- counterweight of the depreciation system; 8-lift; 9 - supporting ring; 10-mechanism for tensioning the rocket suspension cable; 11 - spring support of the automation system; 12 - support at the bottom of the mine; 13 - end signaling devices for closing the protective roof; 14 - concrete shaft of the mine; 15 - steel shell of the shaft of the mine
Created in a hurry, the S-2 missile did not quite suit the military, and the initial deployment plan for the S-2 MRBM was adjusted. We decided to limit ourselves to the deployment of 27 units of these missiles. Soon, the construction of the last nine silos was canceled, and instead a decision was made to create a missile with improved combat characteristics, equipped with a complex of means of overcoming antimissile defense.
BSDR position at Saint-Cristol airbase
The development of the new S-3 MRBM was completed at the end of 1976. The first group of nine S-3 missiles was put on alert in silos (instead of S-2 missiles) in the middle of 1980, and by the end of 1982, the rearmament of all 18 silos was completely completed, and since December 1981, a modernized version of the MRBM was installed in the silos. S-3D.
In the 1960s, work was also carried out to create a tactical, nuclear component. In 1974, mobile launchers of tactical nuclear missiles "Pluto" (range - 120 km) were deployed on the chassis of the AMX-30 tank. By the mid-1980s, the French ground forces were armed with 44 mobile launchers with the Pluto nuclear missile.
Self-propelled launcher TR "Pluto"
After leaving NATO, France, unlike Great Britain, was practically deprived of American assistance in the field of creating nuclear submarines. The design and construction of French SSBNs, and in particular the creation of a reactor for them, went with great difficulties. At the end of 1971, the first French SSBN "Redutable" entered the combat composition of the Navy - the lead in a series of five boats (in January 1972 it first went on combat patrol) and the next "Terribl" was equipped with sixteen M1 SLBMs with a maximum firing range of 3000 km., with a monoblock thermonuclear warhead with a capacity of 0.5 mt.
French SSBN type "Redutable"
By the early 1980s, the French Naval Strategic Nuclear Forces (NSNF) had five SSBNs equipped with SLBMs (80 missiles in total). This was a great achievement of the French shipbuilding and missile industry, even taking into account the fact that these SSBNs were still somewhat inferior in terms of combat capabilities of SLBMs and noise characteristics of American and Soviet SSBNs built at the same time.
Since 1987, in the course of regular overhauls, all boats, except for the Redoubt withdrawn from service in 1991, have undergone modernization in order to accommodate a missile system with M4 SLBMs, with a range of 5000 km and 6 warheads of 150 kt each. The last boat of this type was decommissioned from the French Navy in 2008.
By the early 80s, a full-fledged nuclear triad had been formed in France, and the number of deployed nuclear warheads exceeded 300 units. This, of course, could not be compared with thousands of Soviet and American warheads, but it was quite enough to cause unacceptable damage to any aggressor.
French nuclear bomb AN-52
In 1973, the AN-52 atomic bomb with a capacity of 15 kt was adopted. Outwardly, it strongly resembled an aircraft outboard fuel tank. She was equipped with tactical aircraft of the Air Force ("Mirage IIIE", "Jaguar") and the Navy ("Super Etandar").
In the program for the construction of the French nuclear forces in the mid-to-late 80s, the priority in financing was given to the improvement of the naval component. At the same time, certain funds were also used to build up the combat capabilities of the aviation and ground components of the nuclear forces.
In 1985, the number of SSBNs was increased to six: the submarine Eflexible, armed with the new M-4A SLBM, entered the combat composition of the Navy. It differed from the previously built boats in a number of design features: the hull was reinforced (this made it possible to increase the maximum immersion depth to 300 m), the design of the silos for the M-4A missiles was changed, and the service life of the reactor core was increased.
With the adoption of the Mirage 2000 fighter-bomber in 1984, work began on the creation of a modification capable of carrying nuclear weapons (Mirage 2000N). This process took almost four years, and the first ASMP missile kits to equip these aircraft were delivered only in mid-1988. It took even more time to re-equip the deck aircraft "Super Etandar" for carriers of ASMP missiles: the first sets of these missiles for these aircraft were delivered in June 1989. Both types of the above aircraft are capable of carrying one ASMP missile.
Deck bomber "Super Etandar" with suspended KR ASMP
The role of these carriers was to become a means of “the last warning” of the aggressor before the use of strategic nuclear forces by France in the event of a military conflict. It was assumed that in the event of aggression from the Warsaw Pact countries and the impossibility of repelling it by conventional means, first use tactical nuclear weapons against the advancing troops, thereby demonstrating their determination. Then, if the aggression continues, deliver a nuclear strike with all available means against the enemy's cities. Thus, the French nuclear doctrine contained some elements of the concept of "flexible response", making it possible to selectively use various types of nuclear weapons.
The ground component of the French nuclear forces developed through the creation of the Ades operational-tactical missile (OTR) with a firing range of up to 480 km, which was supposed to replace the aging Pluto. This missile system was put into service in 1992. But already in 1993 it was decided to stop its production. In total, the industry managed to deliver 15 wheeled launchers and 30 Ades missiles with a TN-90 warhead. In fact, these missiles have never been deployed.
By the beginning of the 90s, there was a qualitative leap in the capabilities of the French nuclear forces, primarily due to the rearmament of SSBNs with new SLBMs and the equipping of aircraft carrying nuclear weapons with guided air-to-surface cruise missiles. The combat capabilities of the naval component have significantly increased: the firing range of SLBMs has sharply increased (by 1.5 times) and their accuracy has increased (the CEP decreased by 2 times - from 1000 m for the M-20 SLBM to 450 500 m for the M-4A, M- SLBMs) 4B), which, in combination with the equipment of the MIRV, made it possible to significantly expand the number and range of targets to be hit.
The end of the "cold war" led to a revision of the concept of building the French strategic nuclear forces in accordance with the emerging realities. At the same time, it was decided to abandon the triad of nuclear forces, moving to their dyad with the abolition of the ground component. Work on the creation of the S-4 MRBM was discontinued. The missile silos on the Albion plateau were dismantled in 1998.
Simultaneously with the abolition of the ground-based component of nuclear forces, structural changes are also taking place in their aviation component. An independent strategic aviation command is being created, to which Mirage 2000N fighter-bombers armed with ASMP missiles are transferred. Gradually, the Mirage IVP bombers began to be withdrawn from the Air Force. In addition, the Super Etandar carrier-based aircraft were included in the strategic aviation nuclear forces (ASYaF).
In March 1997, the "Triumfan" SSBN with 16 M-45 SLBMs entered the combat composition of the Navy. During the development of the Triumfan-class submarine, two primary tasks were set: first, to ensure a high level of secrecy; the second is the ability of early detection of enemy ASW (anti-submarine defense) weapons, which would make it possible to start an evasive maneuver earlier.
SSBN "Triumfan"
The number of SSBNs planned for construction was reduced from six to four units. In addition, due to delays in the development of the M5 system, it was decided to equip the built boats with M45 "intermediate type" missiles. The M45 rocket was a deep modernization of the M4 rocket. As a result of the modernization, the firing range was increased to 5300 km. In addition, a warhead with 6 self-guided warheads was installed.
The last and fourth submarine of this type, the Terribble, is armed with sixteen M51.1 SLBMs with a range of 9000 km. In terms of its weight and size characteristics and combat capabilities, the M5 is comparable to the American Trident D5 missile.
Currently, a decision has been made to re-equip the first three boats with M51.2 missiles with a new, more powerful warhead. The work must be carried out during a major overhaul. The first boat to be re-equipped with a new rocket should be the Vigilant, the third boat in the series, which is to be overhauled in 2015.
In 2009, the ASMP-A missile was adopted by the French Air Force. Initially (until 2010) the ASMP-A missile was equipped with the same TN-81 warhead as the ASMP missile, and since 2011 - with a new generation TNA thermonuclear warhead. This warhead, being lighter, safer in operation and resistant to the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion than the TN-81 warhead, has a selectable detonation power of 20, 90 and 300 kt, which significantly increases the effectiveness and flexibility of using the missile to destroy various objects. …
The renewal of the aircraft fleet - carriers of nuclear weapons is carried out through the gradual transfer of the function of the carrier of nuclear weapons from the Mirage 2000N and Super Etandar aircraft to the Rafal F3 and Rafal-M F3 multifunctional aircraft. At the same time, in 2008 it was decided to reduce the number of carrier aircraft to 40 units. In the long term (until 2018), it is envisaged to replace all the remaining aircraft carrying nuclear weapons Mirage 2000N with Rafale F3 aircraft. For ASYa planes, up to 57 nuclear warheads for ASMP-A missiles are allocated, taking into account the exchange fund and the reserve.
Currently, the main task of "nuclear deterrence" still rests with the French SSBNs, in this regard, the intensity of combat service is very high. Patrolling is usually carried out in the Norwegian or Barents Seas, or in the North Atlantic. The average duration of the trip was about 60 days. Each of the boats made three patrols a year.
In peacetime, there are always three boats in the combat-ready forces. One of them carries out combat patrols, and two are on alert at the basing point, maintaining the established readiness to go to sea. The fourth boat is under repair (or rearmament) with the withdrawal from the permanent readiness forces.
This SSBN operation system allows the French Navy command to save on the supply of missile and nuclear warheads for boats (one ammunition load is designed for a full SSBN load). Thus, there is one less ammunition load than the number of boats in combat.
The current grouping of French SSBNs is armed with 48 SLBMs and 288 deployed nuclear warheads. The total stocks of nuclear warheads for the French NSNF are 300 units (taking into account the exchange fund and the reserve).
As of January 2013, the French nuclear forces had 100 carriers of nuclear weapons (52 aircraft and 48 naval), on which 340 nuclear weapons could be deployed. The total stock of nuclear weapons did not exceed 360 units. Taking into account the fact that the production of fissile materials in France was discontinued in the late 90s and for the production of new nuclear warheads, material from warheads that have served their life is used, the actual number of nuclear warheads deployed at the present time may be significantly less.
In general, the state and quantitative potential of France's nuclear arsenal corresponds to the main postulate of its nuclear strategy, being a guarantee of its independence in making the most important strategic and foreign policy decisions, which guarantees a fairly high status of the country in the world.
Recently, however, there has been a decline in the political and foreign economic independence of the Fifth Republic. The leadership of this country is more and more acting with an eye to the opinion of Washington. What, in fact, was what President Charles de Gaulle fought against when he created French nuclear weapons.
