France’s effort at nuclear deterrence - published in "The Guardian" newspaper

“In your leader Chirac’s atomic bombshell (January 21), you say, "like Britain..., (France) shows no sign of moving to a posture of minimum deterrence, let alone disarming completely". This misrepresents France’s position .

From the start, French deterrence has been based on the concept of strict sufficiency. France has always refused to engage in the arms race and our deterrent capabilities have always been tailored to this concept and the spirit of the non-proliferation treaty, as President Chirac stressed in his speech of January 19.

France has reduced the number of its nuclear weapons by eliminating all its ground-to-ground missiles (Plateau d’Albion and Hadès missiles), cutting the number of its nuclear ballistic missile submarines and reducing by two thirds since 1985 the total number of its missile delivery vehicles.

It has signed and ratified the Comprehensive test Ban. Alone among the nuclear powers, France has dismantled its Pacific nuclear test centre.

Ten years ago, it announced the definitive cessation of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and shut down the relevant installations (Pierrelatte and Marcoule). France is encouraging the opening of negotiations on a treaty prohibiting the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.

Contrary to a further article (Building bigger nuclear weapons will make us even less secure, January 24), France has not threatened other countries with a pre-emptive nuclear strike.

President Chirac’s 19 January speech signalled no change in the fundamental principles of French deterrence: its purpose is to guarantee the safeguarding of our vital interests, regardless of the threat’s origin or form.

Gérard Errera

French ambassador to the UK