Macron Oversees Test of New French Missile Capable of Carrying a Nuclear Warhead

The Élysée Palace and the Ministry of the Armed Forces reported that the French president Emmanuel Macron oversaw on Tuesday morning a trial "first launch" of an intercontinental missile from a submarine off the country’s west coast. The Élysée had not announced this presidential activity in advance; it took place without media present, while the military announced the test.

And stated the French Presidency that Macron followed the launch from aboard a frigate of the national navy. The Ministry of the Armed Forces said in a statement that the missile, the third version of the strategic sea-to-land ballistic missile "M51" which entered service a year ago, was "empty of its nuclear payload" and fell "in the North Atlantic several hundred kilometres from any coast."

"Russian aggressiveness and threats"

The missile was launched on Tuesday from the nuclear ballistic missile submarine "Le Vigilant" as part of Operation "SMERTRIOS", aimed at verifying the submarine’s ability to use the "M51" missile after its scheduled maintenance and repair period, according to the Ministry of the Armed Forces. The ministry added that "the missile was tracked throughout its flight phase", and that this was done "in full compliance with France’s international commitments."

The test comes amid rising tensions in Europe, where Emmanuel Macron warned of a change in the nature of "Russian aggressiveness and threats" directed at European countries, after a series of "multi-pronged" attacks attributed to Moscow, and he pledged in mid-September that these attacks "will not go unanswered."

This year the French president also proposed that Europeans join the "advanced" nuclear deterrent system stemming from his new doctrine unveiled in the spring, which reserves the decision to use nuclear weapons exclusively to him.

France brought this new version of the intercontinental missiles into service a year ago; they are deployed on the submarines tasked with nuclear deterrence. At the time the move was described as "a major step in modernising the naval component of French nuclear deterrence."