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Cherbourg: French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced cuts in France's atomic arsenal yesterday.
Sarkozy pledged to keep tight control of spending on France's nuclear deterrent, which he said matched the equivalent of half the national justice or transport budgets and said the atomic arsenal would be kept to the strict minimum necessary.
He said the airborne nuclear strike force would be cut by a third, leaving France with fewer than 300 warheads.
"That is half the maximum number of warheads we had during the Cold War," he said.
Sarkozy proposed measures to limit nuclear stockpiles and put an end to weapons testing after his predecessor Jacques Chirac sparked international outrage by testing arms in the Pacific shortly after his 1995 election.
Speaking at the launch of France's fourth nuclear-armed submarine, the "Terrible", Sarkozy nevertheless said his nation had to face new security threats and needed to be able to strike back forcefully if attacked.
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