France fired an upgraded M51.3 missile from French submarine Le Vigilant on Tuesday in its first submarine launch after the boat’s overhaul. Emmanuel Macron observed the launch from a French Navy vessel and told troops it was a very important moment for France’s strategic credibility.
The missile splashed down in the North Atlantic several hundred kilometers from any coastline after being launched off Finistère in western France. Macron said the launch would be monitored by allies and adversaries alike, and he said, "This is a very important moment for our strategic credibility."
Le Vigilant and M51.3
Le Vigilant is a nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine, and the firing followed a pattern the Ministry of the Armed Forces said applies after every major overhaul of a French nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. The ministry said the test firing serves as an acceptance test, which means the submarine goes through a final operational check before returning to regular duties.
The launch also fit into France’s wider modernization of its nuclear deterrence apparatus. That effort includes new ballistic-missile submarines and a future upgrade of the Rafale fighter jet that would carry a hypersonic nuclear cruise missile.
M51.3 First Submarine Launch
The M51.3 is the latest version of the missile. It is estimated to have a range of more than 9,500 kilometers, compared with more than 9,000 kilometers for the previous version, and it carries four to six multiple independently-targetable reentry vehicles. ArianeGroup says the missile rises to more than 2,000 kilometers before reentering at Mach 20.
The missile is equipped with the new TNO-2 oceanic nuclear warhead, but Tuesday’s launch did not carry a nuclear warhead. ArianeGroup and France’s Directorate General for Armament completed a first flight test of the modernized M51 from Biscarrosse in southwest France in 2023, and the new missile entered operational service in October last year.
France and Le Vigilant
France’s four ballistic missile submarines can each carry 16 M51 missiles, making the new launch part of a broader sea-based deterrent that depends on repeated checks after overhaul. The first version of the M51 was fired from the Biscarrosse launch site in 2006, and Tuesday’s firing showed the upgraded missile being handled from a submarine after refit rather than from land.
The unresolved point is the same one that follows every modernization cycle: when Le Vigilant’s overhaul ended and which upgrades were bundled into it. For now, the launch shows the boat has reached the stage where France can put the upgraded missile through its final operational test and treat the result as part of routine nuclear-force readiness.
