ILE LONGUE, France — President Emmanuel Macron today said France would increase the size of its nuclear arsenal — breaking a major taboo in a landmark speech on the country’s atomic doctrine.
“An increase of our arsenal is indispensable,” said Macron, speaking at the Ile Longue naval base that houses the country’s four nuclear submarines.
Macron explained the need for more warheads by pointing to Russia’s war against Ukraine, China’s growing military power and changing U.S. defense priorities.
He said France needed to adopt “a forward deterrence” as it faces a more threatening world. That means increasingly including European countries in France’s deterrent — starting with participation in nuclear drills.
“It will ultimately provide for the circumstantial deployments of elements of our strategic air forces to allied countries,” he said, referring to the squadrons of nuclear-capable Rafale fighter jets.
Countries interested in working more closely with Paris on nuclear deterrence include Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark.
France currently has about 300 warheads, about a tenth of the size of the U.S. and Russian arsenals. Macron said France would not specify how many warheads it has or how many it plans to add, adding the increase was needed to maintain the arsenal’s “credibility.”
“This is not an arms race … it is essential that our adversaries, or combination of adversaries, cannot even glimpse the possibility of hitting France without the certainty of suffering damage they would not recover from,” the French president warned.
This is a developing story.
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