France on Tuesday fired for the first time its new M51.3 nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine, a successful test that President Emmanuel Macron argued showed the credibility of the French nuclear deterrent.
The missile, a variant of France’s M51 missile and which was not carrying a warhead, was fired from the Le Vigilant submarine off Brittany and impacted “in the North Atlantic, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from any coastline”, the defence ministry said.
Macron witnessed the firing aboard French warship Auvergne, posting a video on X showing the missile arching up into the sky after its launch.
“To be free, one must be feared. And to be feared, one must be powerful,” Macron wrote on X.
“This technical success further demonstrates the credibility of our nuclear deterrent, whose long-term viability is assured,” he added.
The defence ministry emphasised the launch was conducted without a nuclear warhead and “in strict compliance with France’s international commitments”.
The test “once again demonstrates the excellence of the high-tech solutions employed by French industry in the field of nuclear deterrence”, it said.
Macron warned of a shift in the nature of “Russian aggression and threats” against European nations following a series of “hybrid” attacks blamed on Moscow.
He vowed in mid-September that these actions would “not go unanswered”.
The French president also proposed this year that European partners join the “advanced” nuclear deterrence framework of France, the European Union’s sole nuclear weapons power.
“Our nuclear deterrent protects us and will continue to protect us,” he argued.
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