Force de Frappe

The Force de Frappe (French: strike force), or Force de dissuasion after 1961, is the designation of what used to be a triad of air-, sea- and land-based nuclear weapons intended for dissuasion, the French term for deterrence. The French Nuclear Force, part of the Armed Forces of France, is the third largest nuclear-weapons force in the world, following the nuclear triads of the Russian Federation and the United States.

All the land based nuclear French missiles silos were deactivated in 1996. On 27 January 1997, France conducted its last nuclear test before signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). In March 2008, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France confirmed reports giving the actual size of France's nuclear arsenal, and he announced that France will reduce its French Air Force-carried nuclear arsenal by one-third, leaving the Force de Frappe with just under 300 warheads.