Overview
- The French Navy fired the first submarine launch of the modernized M51.3 from the SSBN Le Vigilant on Tuesday, October 6, in a test the presidency said was watched by President Emmanuel Macron.
- French officials and the Direction Générale de l'Armement said the missile carried no nuclear warhead and was tracked by DGA sensors and the trials ship Monge before impacting a planned zone in the North Atlantic several hundred kilometres offshore.
- Defence authorities framed the launch as a technical validation that the submarine and missile system work correctly after maintenance under operation SMERTRIOS, not as an attack or a change in targeting.
- The M51.3 is the third, upgraded version of France’s sea‑launched strategic missile and is said by officials to offer greater range, improved accuracy and better ability to defeat missile defenses while remaining able to carry new oceanic warheads in operational conditions.
- Moscow criticized the exercise on October 7 and French leaders presented the test as strengthening national deterrence, a development that could affect European security consultations and public debate over nuclear strategy.