French President announces increase in nuclear weapons, reshaping Europe's nuclear deterrence

BlockBeats News, March 2 — French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will increase its number of nuclear warheads to strengthen Europe’s atomic deterrent, citing concerns over the United States’ wavering security commitments to the European continent.

He added that the U.S. will play a key role in European defense but warned that recent rhetoric from Washington indicates Europe needs to take a larger role in its own defense.

As the only European Union country with nuclear weapons, Macron faces increasing questions about whether he will expand France’s nuclear deterrence to cover the entire European continent.

According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, France currently has a stockpile of 290 nuclear warheads, roughly the same as in 1984. France’s nuclear arsenal peaked in the early 1990s, with up to 540 warheads. These warheads are deployed on air-dropped weapons and M51 submarine-launched ballistic missiles. (Jin10)