The World - News from Nov. 6, 1986

The French government has approved a $71-billion military spending plan that will finance a major effort to modernize the country’s nuclear arsenal over the next five years. Defense Minister Andre Giraud said the plan calls for a costly rearmament of conventional forces, including its first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and an airborne early warning system. Priority will be given to the French nuclear strike force, led by a fleet of six nuclear missile submarines, which will be refitted with the new M-4 missile, he added.