France’s decision to expand its nuclear arsenal for the first time in decades is drawing mixed reactions across Europe, reopening debate over who should guarantee the continent’s security.
President Emmanuel Macron set out the plan in a speech at the Ile Longue submarine base on Monday, announcing an increase in warheads and what he called “advanced deterrence”. He also invited European partners to host French assets, take part in exercises and integrate conventional forces under Paris’s sole command.
Framed as protecting “vital French interests” in Europe, the proposal raises the possibility of extending a French “nuclear umbrella” to European partners. Macron did not provide a timeline or cost for the plan. He also said Paris would “no longer be disclosing details on its nuclear stockpile”.
France already has one of the world’s most capable independent nuclear forces, with around 290 operational warheads, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its 2026 Yearbook.
Those weapons are split between sea-based and airborne systems. About 240 are submarine-launched ballistic missiles carried on four Triomphant-class submarines, while the remainder are ASMP-A hypersonic cruise missiles carried by Rafale jets.
The "strict sufficiency” doctrine, defined by the French government as "the lowest possible level compatible with the strategic environment and the foreseeable development of threat”, unchanged since the 1959-69 government of Charles de Gaulle, ensures minimal but credible second-strike capability.
Upgrades such as the M51.3 SLBM and ASN4G missile were already in the pipeline prior to Macron's announcement.
France to increase nuclear warheads as part of shared plan to protect Europe
Europe has long been covered by the US nuclear umbrella, in place since the beginning of the Cold War in the 1950s when the US began positioning nuclear arms in European countries.
Macron’s initiative comes as questions have been raised about the future of that protection. In March last year, Trump’s national security team called Europe “pathetic” and “freeloaders” in a group chat which was leaked to a journalist at The Atlantic magazine.
Reactions on the continent
Poland, eyeing Russian threats from its position next door to Ukraine, has welcomed the prospect of a French-led European umbrella. Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X: “We arm ourselves together with our friends so our enemies dare not attack us.”
On the streets of Warsaw, one man named Piotr told RFI: “If we don't have our own [nuclear arsenal], we will gladly host [those of our] allies to respond, or attack, quickly.”
Magda, another local, said she would accept the French veto: "You don't hand over the trigger." Meanwhile Rima said she would prefer Polish input, but hopes for peace.
Meanwhile Germany, under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, could be warming to the idea, with a Franco-German nuclear steering group also announced on 2 March in a joint declaration. Berlin is eyeing exercises this year and financial contributions.
However, Jacob Ross, a research fellow with the German Council on Foreign Relations, told RFI he questioned whether the costs would be a barrier. "Macron's call for fair burden-sharing is interesting— but could we fund this on a European scale?" he asked.
Europe’s defence dilemma: autonomy or dependence?
In France itself, reaction to Macron’s announcement has been mixed across the political spectrum.
MP Jean-Louis Thiériot, of the centre-right Republicans, said he supported the plan, adding that it constituted “no challenge to de Gaulle's principles, [as] sovereignty rests with the president".
However, the far-left party France Unbowed's Thomas Portes described it as a "muscle-flexing armament race". Dieynaba Diop of the Socialist Party urged de-escalation, saying: "We've reduced arsenals before – fight escalation via Europe.”
Marion Maréchal of the far-right National Rally, meanwhile, said she was reassured, and saw no doctrinal violation in the new plan.
