Nuclear deterrence: Macron's vision long awaited by the military

Text by: RFI Follow

Emmanuel Macron is preparing to deliver this Friday, February 7, his vision of French nuclear deterrence, after having assured that the interests of other European countries would be "taken into account". Since the UK's exit from the European Union, France is now the only EU country to have the atomic weapon.

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For the sake of transparency, President François Hollande had five years ago lifted a corner of the veil on a defense-secret: the number of nuclear warheads, France would have just under 300.

A deterrent that relies in part on the strategic oceanic force made up of four missile submarines capable of massive long-range strikes.

Each building carries 16 intercontinental M51 ballistic missiles equipped with several nuclear warheads, missiles which will soon be modernized. In the next decade, France will also acquire third generation missile submarines.

Deterrence also rests on strategic air forces. The Rafale aircraft of the Saint-Dizier air base are equipped with medium-range air-to-ground nuclear missiles, a vector which again will be modernized by 2035.

If deterrence is inseparable from the history of the Fifth Republic, it also has a price. This represents 12% of the overall envelope allocated to defense in 2018 by the military programming law, i.e. 37 billion euros over seven years.

Read also: France: Emmanuel Macron announces the creation of a space command

A constrained speech

Much awaited by the military, the speech of the Head of State before the École de Guerre in Paris will set as usual the doctrine of deterrence, considered by France as " the keystone " of its defense strategy and the ultimate guarantee of his " vital interests ". A necessarily constrained speech, estimates Corentin Brustlein, director of research at IFRI, the French Institute of international relations.

The exercise of the presidential discourse on deterrence is constrained by the fact that it relates to the doctrine, and the doctrine to very stable foundations over time.

Corentin Brustlein, research director at IFRI

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• France
• Emmanuel Macron
• Defense
• Nuclear

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