1960 : le projet de constitution d'une force de frappe océanique stratégique (FOST) comme réponse à la menace soviétique

In: Revue Historique des Armées, Band 236, Heft 3, S. 63-73

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to understand which nuclear threat in 1960 the political and military french leaders could scientifically and technically hope within few years after the begenning of the 5th Republic in their relationships with U.S.S.R. 1960 is at the same time a capital year for the french policy of defense and the context of international relations.

Respect to the national scientific and technical performances in 1960 from one hand and to the geographical characteristic of U.S.S.R. on ther other, this essay first reminds some aspects of a nuclear war, then describes the main lines of the french program of nuclear submarine, and ends with the soviet areas threatened. By the end, almost 20 millions of soviet citizens and 40% of the economic capacity would be destroyed.

This paper is an intellectual essay and use books, statements and others free archives. The secret about the targets of the french nuclear weapons was a part of this «dissuasion» but necessarily this threat existed so that Soviet leaders used to deal with.