France test-fires new nuclear-capable missile – Defence ministry

France on Tuesday fired for the first time its new M51.3 nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine, a successful test that President Emmanuel Macron argued showed the credibility of the French nuclear deterrent.
The missile, a variant of France’s M51 missile and which was not carrying a warhead, was fired from the Le Vigilant submarine off Brittany and impacted “in the North Atlantic, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from any coastline”, the defence ministry said.
Macron witnessed the firing aboard French warship Auvergne, posting a video on X showing the missile arching up into the sky after its launch.
“To be free, one must be feared. And to be feared, one m...