France Unveils Modernized Submarine-Launched Nuclear Missile Amid Global Arms Race

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

PARIS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – France has introduced a modernized version of its submarine-launched strategic nuclear missile, marking what officials described as a “major milestone” in the nation’s long-term deterrence strategy amid a renewed global nuclear arms race.

The upgraded M51.3 ballistic missile — the newest variant in France’s sea-based nuclear arsenal — features enhanced range, accuracy, and improved capability to penetrate enemy missile defenses, the Armed Forces Ministry said in comments monitored by the Worthy News Europe Bureau.

The missile carries new warheads and will equip the nation’s four Le Triomphant-class nuclear-powered submarines, each of which will carry 16 missiles.

The announcement came after Russia confirmed new tests of nuclear systems, including the Poseidon nuclear torpedo capable of creating radioactive tsunamis and the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile, which President Vladimir Putin claimed could “evade any defense system.” Moscow also deployed its Bulava submarine-launched intercontinental missile earlier this year, according to sources familiar with the developments.

It prompted U.S. President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday to order the U.S. Department of Defense to immediately begin testing U.S. nuclear weapons just ahead of a meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China.

The United States largely halted full-scale nuclear testing in the 1990s, with the last known underground detonation at the Nevada Test Site in 1992.

RESUMING TESTS

However, Trump ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing immediately.

With world powers rushing to expand their nuclear influence, French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin signed the operational commissioning of the M51.3 as part of a 2024-2030 military plan “to accelerate modernization and ensure the long-term credibility of our deterrence, the sovereign pillar of our security.”

The M51.3 program, led by France’s Directorate General for Armament (DGA) and developed with ArianeGroup, builds on work that began in 2014.

The missile uses the TNO-2 nuclear warhead, designed by France’s Atomic Energy Commission.

Each missile, roughly 12 meters (about 39 feet) long and weighing more than 50 metric tons (about 55 U.S. tons), uses a solid-propellant three-stage launcher.

It can reach altitudes above 2,000 kilometers (about 1,243 miles) and re-enter the atmosphere at Mach 20 (around 15,000 miles per hour), carrying four to six independently targetable warheads with an estimated range exceeding 9,500 kilometers (about 5,900 miles) — roughly 500 kilometers (about 310 miles) farther than its predecessor, according to military experts.

MISSILE DEFENSES

Officials said the upgrade ensures “continued credibility” against evolving missile defenses.

France deploys its nuclear forces outside the NATO military alliance’s command structure, though it coordinates closely with allies such as Britain.

France’s announcement follows a surge in global nuclear modernization, as the United States and Russia expand and upgrade their arsenals, observers noted.

The U.S. Department of Defense has committed roughly $49 billion for fiscal 2025 to sustain and modernize its nuclear triad — including new Sentinel ICBMs to replace Minuteman III, Columbia-class submarines, and the B-21 Raider stealth bomber.

Long-term modernization costs are projected to exceed $900 billion over the next decade, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

Russia claims that 95 percent of its strategic nuclear forces have been modernized, including the deployment of the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM, Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles, and nuclear-powered systems such as Poseidon and Burevestnik.

‘STRATEGIC AUTONOMY’

Western analysts, however, caution that sanctions and the war in Ukraine have slowed parts of Moscow’s long-term strategic-weapons programs.

Beyond the M51.3, France is preparing to replace its Le Triomphant submarines with new SNLE 3G vessels from the 2030s onward.

It is also developing the ASN4G hypersonic missile to succeed the air-launched ASMPA cruise missile carried by Rafale fighters and plans to integrate nuclear capability into the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project, in collaboration with Germany and Spain.

France expects its next-generation deterrent platforms to operate until at least the 2080s, maintaining what President Emmanuel Macron has called “the ultimate guarantee of the nation’s independence and freedom of decision.”

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