I heard a radio broadcast on CBC on 14 Jan 2003 which referred to a
new drug developed by the French military for use instead of
dexedrine, to keep pilots awake and alert. It is supposed to be
better, with fewer side effects. What is its name?

Hello susankara-ga 

The drug you are thinking of is modafinil. It was developed in the
1980s by Lafon, a French pharmaceutical company and was approved by
the FDA in 1998.  However, it appears that it is little known outside
Europe.  The reason you would have heard about it on the day you did
would be in connection with the news about hearing concerning the US
pilots who mistakenly dropped a bomb that killed four Canadians in
Afghanistan after having received amphetamines.
http://amphetamines.newstrove.com/

"Modafinil is an eugeroic drug, (which simply means "good arousal").
This unique class contains only two at present, adrafinil and
modafinil, both of which have been developed by Lafon Laboratories of
France. Currently, their use and effectiveness is little known outside
of Europe. The basis of their uniqueness lies in their ability to only
"stimulate when stimulation is required." As a result the "highs and
lows" associated with other stimulants such as amphetamine are absent
with eugeroics... the French government admitted that its crack Corp-
the Foreign Legion- used modafinil during covert operations inside
Iraq during the Gulf war."
From Modafinil, the ultimate stimulant? by Robert Mason Ph.D  
http://www.smart-drugs.com/ias-Modafinil.htm  (Although this article
appears on a commercial web site which sells Modafinil, it does have a
lot of interesting information about modafinil, and is based on cited
clinical studies reported in the medical literature).

A study in US helicopter pilots, carried out in 2000, found that
modafinil helped them to stay alert through two days and one night
without sleep
http://www.modafinil.info/modafinil/modafinil-alertness-1.htm (there
are links to information on other studies on modafinil as well).

Search strategy: pilots, France, alert 
This gave me a number of potentially relevant links, through which I
found a reference to modafinil, which enabled me to search on:
modafinil, pilots, France

This was excellent, as I had tried for over an hour to find this
result, and failed. Thank you so much.

The American military is also experimenting with field use of a drug
called Provigil which is used mainly for nacolepsy patients, but has
been shown to allow soldiers to remain fully alert with no sideaffects
for up to 72 hours, afterwhich only a rest period of 8-12 hours is
need to recoup the sleep loss.

skermit-ga

Hi skermit,

Provigil is a brand name for modafinil: "  "...modafinil ('Provigil')
is a memory-improving and mood-brightening psychostimulant."
http://www.modafinil.com/

susankara

I am overwhelmed by your generosity. Thank you so very much!