Anzahl Kriegsköpfe in französischen und britischen Arsenalen
Text hier:
...
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
... ...
Three squadrons with 60 Mirage 2000Ns have nuclear roles; two are based at Luxeuil, and one at Istres.
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 Porte (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 Chateaudun.
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 Etendard 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 Senat 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 Francois 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 Etendard 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 Ameliore, (ASMP-A, sometimes called the ÒASMP PlusÓ), 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 nucleaire aero-portee).
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 Etendard 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.
... ...
The two Triomphant 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 Triomphant, was rolled out from its construction shed in Cherbourg on July 13, 1993, and entered service in September 1996. The second, Le Temeraire, 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.
(aus
http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/nukenotes/ja01nukenote.html)
Bild der Franzosen hier:
Die britischen Streitkräfte haben nur Daten aus dem Jahre 2000. Auszug aus dem TORNADO-spezifischen Text:
...
Until recently, the Royal Air Force operated eight squadrons of dual-capable Tornado GR.1/1A aircraft. But with the withdrawal of the last remaining WE177 bombs at the end of March 1998, the Tornadoes' nuclear role was terminated, bringing to an end the four-decade-long history of RAF aircraft carrying nuclear weapons. By the end of August 1998, the remaining WE177 bombs had been dismantled. The RAF base at Bruggen, Germany, is scheduled to be closed, and by the end of 2001 approximately 40 Tornadoes now at the base will be reassigned to bases at Lossiemouth, Scotland, and Marham, England.
...
(Aus
http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/nukenotes/so00nukenote.html)
Bild der britischen Streitkräfte hier (Jahr 2000)
