Global Security Newswire
Daily News on Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Weapons, Terrorism and Related Issues
France Tests Strategic Missile
France yesterday conducted a test flight of its nuclear-capable M-51 ballistic missile, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 23, 2004).
The unarmed missile was fired from a launch site near the Atlantic Ocean in Southern France and flew over the Bay of Biscay.
"The test flight was carried out in conformity with all [of] France's international commitments concerning safety, transparency and nonproliferation," the French Defense Ministry said in a statement.
France carried out the launch "to check the performance of future missiles and to move to a new phase in the modernization of our deterrent," Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in the statement.
The M-51 can carry six nuclear warheads and has a range of 5,000 miles. It is scheduled by 2010 to replace the M-45 missiles now in use on four submarines.
The French nuclear arsenal is deployed solely on submarines and aircraft, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Nov. 9).
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