---
category: Military Technology
location: France
start: 1964
summary: Force de Frappe ('strike force') is France's independent nuclear deterrent,
  developed by the mid-1960s with the doctrine - articulated by theorist Pierre Gallois
  - that even limited nuclear capability creates deterrence by making any attack too
  costly for an aggressor.
tags:
- Concept
- Military
- France
---

Force de Frappe, meaning "strike force" in French, refers to [France](/places/france/)'s independent nuclear deterrent. Developed by the mid-1960s, its ambition was to independently target the [Soviet Union](/places/soviet-union/) with intercontinental missiles. The intellectual spokesman for the French nuclear program was [Pierre Gallois](/people/pierre-gallois/), who argued that the possession of nuclear weapons, even if unequally armed, made the status quo unavoidable.[^1]

[France](/places/france/)'s *force de frappe* became the role model for [Israel](/places/israel/)'s strategic planning and its ultimate decision not to count on the American nuclear umbrella. This concept influenced [Israel](/places/israel/)'s decision to complement its new reactor with a major research effort to design and manufacture long-range missiles capable of targeting the Middle East and, eventually, the [Soviet Union](/places/soviet-union/).[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3.