Eurodeterrent

The idea of a Eurodeterrent, essentially based on Anglo-French or Franco-German cooperation, has not materialized, for national political reasons. In the meantime the Soviet Union has increased the number of its SS-20 nuclear missiles and of its Backfire bombers, which were excluded from the SALT II agreement as “non-strategic,” but which can, with their respective ranges, easily hit the obsolete French and British nuclear arsenals and the European airports on which the strategic air-forces are based.

If a group of European nations under EU, WEU [Western European Union]or other auspices succeeded in building a collective ‘Eurodeterrent’, some Americans might conclude that US commitments and forces in Europe were no longer necessary.

A number of European governments publicly criticized France to the clear dismay of French leaders. The effort by Paris to portray its nuclear weapons as the 'European deterrent' (or Euro-deterrent) failed to win many hearts and minds in Europe.