[ptero]

I suspect the doctrine of nuke as a warning shot is less effective today when a small group can launch, either for own purposes or as a proxy for another state, a large group of drones to strike with speed and precision the targets 1000+ km away. With that threat type nuking is not an option and we are back to traditional defense. My 2c.

[boricj]

Our nuclear deterrence policy is for safeguarding our country's sovereignty and vital interests. Unless that swarm of drones threatens our continuity of the government or our ability to conduct a nuclear strike, I doubt it is worthy of a Tête nucléaire aéroportée.

Unlike any other country with nukes, we do have a last-chance warning shot option in our policy. An ASMPA missile from us means thus far and no further. It's fired from a Rafale fighter rather than a ballistic missile submarine, which means the order can be reversed at the last minute if needed and it hopefully carries the message across before the adversary's early warning systems light up like a Christmas tree with French ballistic missiles.

We do have a problem of scale with our conventional forces, which have been cut down to the bone and are stretched thin operating at capacity. Unlike the Germans, we're using our army to conduct expeditionary forces around the world and have little on hand to spare because we refuse to compromise too deeply on our long list of capabilities to fight wars and have a bad habit of not storing up enough.

It will take a long time to bulk back up, but Ukraine has been a wake-up call that is taken seriously by our policy makers.

[nradov]

No small group has the resources to launch large groups of drones with a 1000km range. Those tend to cost >$100K per unit, and require significant support infrastructure.

[ptero]

That was true 10 years ago, but is no longer true today. All components, including body, motor and electronics are a few thousand dollars and a garage-sized machine shop is very capable.

The limiting factor is the skill to put it together, but recent action in Africa and Ukraine means the number of people who can integrate those components is rapidly growing.