Nuclear weapons research and development continued following de Gaulle's departure from office in 1969. Newly elected President Georges Pompidou continued de Gaulle's military objective of an independent nuclear deterrent and for this reason, a nuclear testing campaign was conducted at Mururoa and Fangataufa during the summer months of 1970. A large portion of the national defense budget was allocated to the nuclear weapons program by Pompidou, to the dismay of a number of military officials who protested the fact that not enough funds were provided for the conventional forces of the French military. [2]
Originally scheduled for 1969, the 1970 series was postponed due to budgetary reasons. Michel Debré was appointed Minister of Defense the previous year by Pompidou and on 13 November 1969, Debré declared the aim of the 1970 nuclear testing series was to catch up on the time lost the previous year due to the lack of nuclear testing.
It was also speculated that high levels of radioactive fallout on the test atolls as a result of the Canopus and Procyon shots was the reason for the postponement of the 1969 nuclear test series. [1]
The 1970 atmospheric nuclear testing campaign was conducted to verify a series of devices, mechanisms and phenomena associated with fission and fusion reactions rather than in attaining high yields, and on the optimal conditions for a fusion reaction. The series featured eight tests, all of which were fired from balloons.
It was announced prior to the series that the 1970 nuclear testing campaign would also test experimental thermonuclear devices which would be weaponized within five years. Three of the tests, Dragon, Licorne and Toucan, were concerned with thermonuclear warheads, while the other shots looked at diverse configurations of a fission primary.[1] The three thermonuclear tests were developmental tests for France's first thermonuclear warhead, the TN-60.
The TN-60 was France's first production thermonuclear warhead. With a nominal yield of 1 megaton, the TN-60 would arm the third generation SLBM, the M-20. This warhead had a very long development process, which lasted over eight years and required 21 tests.
Two of the tests (Dragon and Orion) were fired at Fangataufa. These were the last atmospheric nuclear tests conducted at Fangataufa, and the last nuclear tests to be conducted there until 1975. The remaining shots were fired at Mururoa at either the Dindon or Denise testing sectors.
Despite the large number of tests to be fired during this campaign, fewer vessels than usual were dispatched to Mururoa. The number of military personnel stationed in French Polynesia for the test series approached 10,000. Over 4,500 technical personnel were also involved in the shots.
France, along with the People’s Republic of China, was the only nation to continue atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons into the 1970s. World wide protest of these tests was becoming more intense every year. Environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, were beginning to send protest boats to Mururoa from New Zealand in an effort to stall testing. These concerns over the radiological effects of atmospheric nuclear tests would eventually lead to the permanent suspension of atmospheric nuclear testing in 1974.
© TCD OragePreparation work for a test balloon during the 1970 campaign |
Unlike previous French nuclear testing campaigns, which were shrouded in secrecy, the 1970 nuclear testing series was opened to several members of the press. 12 French corespondents were invited to observe the nuclear tests. These corespondents represented conservative magazines and newspapers, those most likely to publish favorable accounts of the nuclear testing campaign and help produce a benevolent image of the trials. [2]
The 1970s saw a wide range of modernization programs initiated for the Force de Frapp. In 1972, development began on the next generation of IRBM, the SSBS S3. Development also began on a nuclear armed missile in the late 1970s that would be carried by the Jaguar ground attack aircraft. France’s first class of strategic missile submarines, the Redoubtable,was deployed in 1972. These submarines first carried the MSBS M-1 submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and later the M-2 SLBM and M-20 SLBM, all were armed with the 500 kiloton MR-41 warhead.
The TN-60 thermonuclear warhead would enter service in 1977. The lighter TN-61 warhead would soon replace the TN-60. There were only 70 TN-60/TN-61 warheads in the stockpile at any given time. Enough warheads were built to arm four submarines at the time.
MIRV (Multiple Independently Target-able Re-entry Vehicle) development began in December 1972. The TN-70/71 thermonuclear warhead family featured lower yield, lower weight, and higher survivability compared to its predecessor, the TN-60/61. The first tests of these new weapons began in 1974. The first TN-70s went into service in 1985.
