France Conducts First Submarine Test Launch of Upgraded M51.3 Nuclear Missile
France fired its new nuclear-capable missile M51.3 from a submarine off Brittany, weeks after Macron promised to answer Russia’s hybrid attacks.
France has tested its new ballistic missile M51.3 from a nuclear submarine on Tuesday; the upgraded weapon has been launched from underwater. Emmanuel Macron, the French President, says the test shows the country’s nuclear deterrent can still be trusted.
The French Armed Forces Ministry said the missile left the submarine named Le Vigilant off the coast of Finistère, in Brittany, on October 6.
The submarine had just come out of a major overhaul period. There was no warhead on board, only a dummy payload, which came down in the North Atlantic hundreds of kilometers from any coastline. “This technical success proves the ongoing credibility of our strategic deterrent,” he said. “To safeguard our freedom over the long term, we must maintain an unquestioned defence capability.”
His post was more on the blunt side. He wrote, “To be free, one must be feared, and to be feared you have to be powerful.” And a video of Macron watching the launch from the French Navy frigate Auvergne was shared on X. The ministry stressed that the test followed all of France’s international commitments.
It also said the M51.3 shows Macron’s determination to keep the country’s nuclear forces credible for years to come, in line with today’s security climate.
The M51.3 missile is a three-stage, solid-fuel missile built by ArianeGroup. It flies farther and hits the target more accurately than the earlier versions, and it has better defences against modern anti-ballistic missile systems. It was the seventh M51-family missile fired from a submarine and the 13th flight test of the program overall.
The timing is hard to ignore. Only a few weeks ago, Macron warned that aggression and threats by Russia toward European countries were changing, after a string of hybrid attacks that Europe blamed on Moscow. In mid-September, he promised those attacks would not go unanswered.
With the successful firing, Le Vigilant is cleared to go back on active duty as part of France’s sea-based nuclear force.
France is the only country in the European Union with an independent nuclear arsenal, estimated at around 290 warheads carried by submarines and aircraft. Earlier this year, Macron invited other European countries to join what he called France’s “advanced” deterrence framework.
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