Overview
- President Emmanuel Macron said France will increase the number of nuclear warheads and will no longer publish the size of its arsenal.
- Macron announced a future ballistic-missile submarine named Invincible that is planned to enter service in 2036.
- He delivered the policy shift at the Île Long submarine base in Crozon, citing a need to strengthen France’s deterrent model.
- Paris is updating its nuclear doctrine anchored in strict sufficiency, with the changes presented as a response to current geopolitical shocks.
- Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed a joint working group on nuclear issues, with Merz saying Germany could join French nuclear exercises by year’s end, and Macron did not rule out basing French nuclear weapons abroad under certain conditions.