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Afraid of new robber states

France is gearing up.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

It is certain that the United States and France completely disagree with Iraq. But they think quite similarly about other things.

Over the next three years, the French defense will receive new supplies of cruise missiles and air-to-ground missiles. It's about the Scalp EG cruise missile; a conventional weapon with a range of between 400 and 600 kilometers that will be carried by the Mirage and Rafale aircraft, including deployed on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.

Scalp EG will be launched as early as next year. In 2007, the arsenal of rockets will be expanded with the so-called ASMP-A, an air-to-ground rocket designed with nuclear warheads and with a range of between 300 and 400 kilometers.

The interesting thing about all this is why France suddenly has to invest billions of euros on new weapons, which comes in addition to the already planned missile M.51 with a range of 6000 kilometers. The answer is: robber states. Like the United States, France also fears that a growing number of states will eventually stockpile abc weapons. Specifically, it is about thirty countries that France perceives has acquired, or is about to acquire, weapons of mass destruction.

Like the United States, France believes that the most important – and thus most dangerous – of these countries are North Korea, Syria and Iran. In addition, they put on Saudi Arabia, which the Americans do not specifically flash out.

These are countries located in so-called "troubled" zones. In addition, they are much closer to France than the United States. It is therefore important that France's "deterrent effect" is credible, it says in Paris. This has led to accusations that the country is close to the United States' strategic thinking, which is expressed in Nuclear Posture Review from 2001.

The United States is focusing on "mininukes" to make its defense more flexible. France is investing in more of what it already has, but better weapons. Both fear the day when they – and a few more – are no longer alone in having nuclear weapons. And both are gearing up for a world that did not turn out the way they thought it would after 1989.

110 Scalp rockets totaling 450 have already been delivered to the French defense. They cost € 850.000 per year. piece. The United Kingdom has also purchased 900 such rockets. They have already tested them in practical war; in Iraq. Italy, Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have also purchased such rockets.

And what's more: The US is also interested. For Scalp EG, the targets hit in one hundred percent of cases, with a precision that can be measured on the meter. And that's more than what the United States' own cruise missile, Tomahawk, is capable of.

The same applies to the ASMP-A rocket, which tests have shown to deviate no more than ten meters from the target during the 300-400 kilometer air race. In total, the ASMP-A program has a cost of EUR 1.4 billion.

France, therefore, is significantly upgrading, which is not least the Americans must be happy with. But, says the French, there is a big difference between the Americans and us. For where the United States says they will not exclude first-time use, France says they will retain the old doctrine of non-use. This means that nuclear weapons will only be used if France is attacked. Something that might be a guarantee, and maybe not.

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