France has made one of its biggest shifts in defense strategy since the 1960s, announcing plans to expand its nuclear arsenal and extend its nuclear protection to other European countries. President Emmanuel Macron laid out these changes in a speech at the Ile Longue submarine base in Brittany, near the port of Brest. He said the moves are a direct response to a less stable world, stating, “The next 50 years will be an era of nuclear weapons.”
To back this up, France plans to increase its current count of around 300 nuclear warheads and will launch a new nuclear-armed submarine called “The Invincible” in 2036. Eight European nations, the UK, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, and Denmark, have agreed to join France’s new “advanced deterrence” strategy.
