France successfully test-fired an M51.3 long-range submarine-launched ballistic missile, without a nuclear warhead aboard, over the Atlantic Ocean on Nov. 18.
The test firing was conducted by the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) from the Ballistic Launch Site (BLB) in Biscarrosse in southwest France. The flight comes just seven months after the successful acceptance test firing of an M51 missile from the Le Terrible submarine, according to ArianeGroup, which makes the missile.
This was the qualification flight of the new M51.3 version of the M51 missile. The flight was designed to validate “an important evolution of the missile which will contribute to perpetuating the credibility of our oceanic deterrence over the coming decades,” the French General Directorate of Armaments said in a statement.
The M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is built in France by ArianeGroup and deployed on French navy submarines. The weapons are configured to carry multiple French-made TN75 nuclear warheads. The missile was fielded in 2010 as a replacement for France’s M45 SLBM.
“This success once again demonstrates the ability of ArianeGroup, together with its industrial ecosystem of over 600 national companies, to competently rise to such a technological challenge,” said Martin Sion, chief executive of ArianeGroup. “We are now heading towards M51.3 system entry into operational service. This program, which began in 2014, is one of ArianeGroup’s two major programs. It is on schedule and on budget, thanks to the strong directive, oversight of DGA. The ministerial and industrial teams involved in this test firing have once again shown their capacity for collaboration and demonstrated the highest level of collective commitment for DGA.”
Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu “expressed great satisfaction” after the success of the qualification test firing of an M51.3 strategic ballistic missile.
Lecornu congratulated the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission and the industrial partners who worked for its success.
The missile was monitored throughout its flight phase by the test personnel of the DGA. The fallout zone is located in the North Atlantic, several hundred kilometers from any coast, the DGA said. This test was carried out without a nuclear warhead and “in strict compliance with France’s international commitments,” The DGA said.
“This shot, carried out as part of the M51 program, once again demonstrates the excellence of the high technology that French industries are implementing in this area,” the DGA said.
