France fires new M51.3 ballistic missile from nuclear submarine for first time

President Emmanuel Macron watched the launch from the frigate Auvergne, saying: “To be free, you must be feared. And to be feared, you must be powerful.”

France has carried out the first launch of its new M51.3 submarine-launched ballistic missile, firing it from the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Le Vigilant. President Emmanuel Macron watched the test from aboard the multi-mission frigate Auvergne.

“Very few nations have such know-how,” Macron wrote on X, congratulating the defense procurement agency DGA, the atomic energy commission CEA, ArianeGroup, Naval Group and the French Navy. “This technical success is a new demonstration of the credibility of our deterrence, whose durability is assured.”

“To be free, you must be feared”

“To be free, you must be feared. And to be feared, you must be powerful,” Macron said. He noted that he launched the renewal of France’s deterrent forces in 2017, that the armed forces’ budget will have doubled in ten years, that France’s future strategic submarines are under construction and that a program for hypersonic, maneuvering strategic missiles for the airborne component was launched this year.

The missile, which carried no nuclear warhead, was fired off Brittany and came down in the North Atlantic, according to reports. The test was also meant to validate Le Vigilant’s strategic weapon system after an overhaul that began in autumn 2023 at the Île Longue naval base. The M51.3 version entered service in October 2025 as part of the modernization of France’s nuclear deterrent.