President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a modest cut Friday in France's nuclear arsenal, to less than 300 warheads, and urged China and the United States to commit to no more weapons tests. In his first major speech as president on France's much-vaunted nuclear “strike force,” Sarkozy said nuclear weapons remain a vital component of the nation's defenses. “It is the nation's life insurance policy,” he said. He noted that while France does not face a foreseeable threat of invasion, other threats exist. He singled out Iran's development of its missile forces, even as questions surround its nuclear program. “The security of Europe is at stake,” he said. Many of France's nuclear weapons are carried aboard submarines, with the rest on warplanes. Sarkozy said the airborne component would be cut by one-third. “After this reduction, our arsenal will include less than 300 nuclear warheads,” he said. Sarkozy did not say how many warheads France currently has and the Defense Ministry said that information is a state secret. The Federation of American Scientists, which tracks nuclear arsenals around the globe, said in a status report for 2008 that France had 348 warheads. The French president was speaking at the inauguration of a new nuclear submarine named “The Terrible.” Sarkozy followed his announcement of weapons cuts with appeals for other nations to scale back their nuclear facilities. He appealed to China and the United States to ratify a nuclear test ban treaty that they signed in 1996. “It's time to ratify,” he said. He urged nuclear powers to dismantle nuclear test sites. He also called for negotiations on a treaty to ban short- and intermediate-range ground-to-ground missiles and a treaty to ban the manufacturing of fissile material for nuclear weapons. __
