France tests unarmed M51 nuclear missile from submarine off Brittany

france24.com (French) —

French President Emmanuel Macron observed a test launch of a new unarmed nuclear missile from a submarine on Tuesday, according to the Élysée and the Armed Forces Ministry. The exercise took place off the coast of Finistère. The missile, a third version of the M51 strategic sea-to-land ballistic missile, was fired from the submarine Le Vigilant and landed in the North Atlantic, hundreds of kilometers from any coast. The president watched from a navy frigate. The test, part of operation SMERTRIOS, aimed to validate the submarine's capability to deploy the M51 after maintenance. It occurred amid heightened European tensions over Russian aggression, which Macron has warned will not go unanswered.


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