Thermonuclear Threat: French Submarine Test Fires M51 Strategic Ballistic Missile

On June 12th the French Navy test fired an M51 submarine launched ballistic missile from a Triomphant Class ballistic missile submarine. The launch took place off the country’s eastern Atlantic coast, and was reportedly monitored by both a U.S. Air Force RC-135S Cobra Ball ballistic missile and rocket tracking aircraft and a French Falcon 50 maritime patrol aircraft. The test comes as the world’s three leading nuclear powers, Russia, the United States and China, all test increasingly capable nuclear delivery platforms and anti-ballistic missile systems amid escalating global tensions. The M51 has an estimated range of 8000km and can carry up to ten thermonuclear warheads. The M51 test represents the first from a submarine since 2013, when the missile notably failed to perform as required. The earliest M51 variants entered service in 2010, although the submarines that carry them are considerably older with the first laid down in 1986. Triomphant Class submarines are thought to be considerably louder than their American or Russian counterparts, or their latest Chinese rivals the Type 094 Class, which makes access to a longer range missile type highly valuable as the warships themselves are likely to be vulnerable if operating too far from French waters.