Force de Frappe
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.
Force de Frappe, meaning "strike force" in French, refers to France's independent nuclear deterrent. Developed by the mid-1960s, its ambition was to independently target the Soviet Union with intercontinental missiles. The intellectual spokesman for the French nuclear program was Pierre Gallois, who argued that the possession of nuclear weapons, even if unequally armed, made the status quo unavoidable.1
France's force de frappe became the role model for Israel's strategic planning and its ultimate decision not to count on the American nuclear umbrella. This concept influenced 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.1
Sources
- Hersh, Seymour M. The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3. ↩
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