Paris has launched footage of the M51.3 long-range ballistic missile being test-fired over the weekend, as a part of the continuing enhancements to the French nuclear deterrent.
The M51.3 is the most recent iteration of the M51, a three-stage missile designed to be launched from French nuclear submarines. The unique missile was first fired from a floor launcher in 2006 and from the ocean in 2010.
“First profitable take a look at firing of an M51.3 strategic ballistic missile!” French Protection Minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X (previously Twitter), including that this “confirms the credibility of our nuclear deterrent and demonstrates the excellence of our launch sector.”
In keeping with the French Protection Ministry, the missile was launched from the Biscarosse testing website in southwest France and landed within the North Atlantic, “a whole bunch of kilometers from any shoreline.” The precise location of the splashdown was not specified. The missile didn’t carry a warhead.
France’s protection procurement and growth company, the Directorate Normal of Armament (DGA), stated that the take a look at was carried out “in strict compliance” with worldwide commitments and confirmed the “correct functioning” of the missile system, contributing to the eventual approval of the M51.3 model.
The missile is being developed by ArianeGroup, a three way partnership between the French army contractor Safran and the multinational conglomerate Airbus.
France has been a nuclear energy since 1960, when it examined an independently developed atomic bomb. It’s believed to have round 300 operational nuclear warheads, carried primarily by naval and air belongings, as all French land-based launchers had been decommissioned by 1997.
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