This was the first launch of the French intercontinental ballistic missile M51.3, which is specially designed to break through missile defenses
When the Kremlin actively rattles off nuclear weapons, it often forgets that it is not the only one in the world that possesses them, and that in addition to the United States and China, some other countries, such as France, also have them.
And French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecorneuil has just announced that a new intercontinental ballistic missile for submarines, the M51.3, has been successfully tested. The Main Armament Directorate also showed a video of the launch:
[#Dissuasion] Tir d’essai réussi pour le missile #M51
La DGA a coordonné et de conduit with success un tir d’essai de missile M51 sans charge militaire from son site de Biscarrosse.
Il s’agissait du 1er tir d’un missile #M51 en version M51. 3.#NotreDéfense @Armees_Gouv pic.twitter.com/pqZy2LJLxD
– Direction générale de l’armement (@DGA) November 18, 2023
The launch was made from a test ground launcher from a test site near Biscarrosse in the southwestern part of the country. Of course, the missile had no nuclear charge, and it was launched toward the Atlantic.
This was the first test for the M51.3 missile, although it is a new version of the M51, which has been in service since 2010 and is the main armament of four Le Triomphant class submarines and the main means of nuclear deterrence in France.
The three-stage solid fuel M51 has a starting weight of 52 tons, a length of 12 meters and a width of 2.3 meters. The missile’s range is not officially disclosed, but is estimated at 8-10 thousand kilometers. Such a range is enough to reach even Vladivostok, let alone Moscow, from a conventional launch area in the North Atlantic.
Currently, two versions of the M51 are in service in France: M51.1 with a separate warhead for 6-10 TN 75 units with a yield of 110 kt. The newer version, M51.2, has new TNO (Tête nucléaire océanique) nuclear warheads with an estimated yield of 100 kt and increased accuracy of 150-200 meters.
As for the M51.3, work on it began in 2014 and it is known that this modernization is aimed at improving the missile’s third stage’s ability to penetrate missile defense, and subsequently replace all M51.1s and move to the next generation SNLE 3G strategic submarines, which are due to appear in the mid-2030s.
In total, France now has four M51 Le Triomphant-class carriers, which were commissioned from 1997 to 2010, each capable of carrying 16 ballistic missiles.
