Wodka-Gallien, Philippe A Sword for Peace and Liberty. Band 2: French Nuclear Forces 1990-2025

A volume from the series Europe @ War. This was a turbulent period, as the initial peace dividends gave way to a new era of strategic competition, with old adversaries reemerging and new ones joining the fray, while new technologies were spreading. While Paris' foreign policy supports international agreements at the diplomatic level, particularly the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, credibility and legitimacy remain the main pillars of military defense policy. This volume provides a detailed, illustrated overview of France's nuclear-powered submarines, Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighter-bombers, impressive aircraft carriers, and computer-assisted intelligence and command centers, tracing the history of these armed forces from 1990 to the present and looking ahead to the end of this century. Volume 2 of A Sword for Peace and Liberty describes in detail the adaptation of French nuclear forces to these challenging times in order to maintain a constant deterrence strategy, the renewal of French nuclear forces, and how this will affect the rest of the 21st century with a new generation of fighter-bombers, submarines, and missiles.