France Brings 10 European Allies Into Its Nuclear Deterrence Plan Against Russia

France is expanding its nuclear deterrence posture across Europe in response to nuclear threats from Russia, increasing its warhead stockpile for the first time in decades and placing its arsenal size under total secrecy, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

As the only European Union member state possessing nuclear weapons, France holds approximately 290 nuclear warheads and is scaling up production while ending public reporting on its stockpile.

The move extends nuclear deterrence in Europe beyond the US nuclear weapons stored in five European countries under NATO’s nuclear sharing program. France has reached agreements with 10 European countries to join the strategic initiative: the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

The framework centers on temporarily deploying nuclear-capable French Rafale fighter jets across Europe alongside the construction of specialized infrastructure, new communication systems, early warning capabilities, and intelligence-sharing mechanisms.

French President Emmanuel Macron has described the expanding nuclear umbrella as “advanced deterrence,” intended to complicate strategic calculations for Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Xavier Chatel, strategic advisor to the French president, stated that the initiative provides France with “new options for positioning nuclear forces in the event of nuclear escalation.”

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Military experts note that this setup poses a more immediate tactical challenge for Russia than NATO’s traditional nuclear sharing program. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide noted that France holds a strategic capability that complements existing US security guarantees.

Analysts highlight that French ASMP-A cruise missiles carried by Rafale jets are designed to target major Russian cities with a high probability of reaching their targets, establishing a distinct level of deterrence.

Nicole Grajewski, a Russian and nuclear policy expert at Sciences Po in Paris, observed that while it remains unclear whether the posture will convince Russian strategists that France would risk a retaliatory strike on Paris for allies like Warsaw, Russian military officials are actively monitoring the expansion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Earlier, Germany and France put their nuclear-deterrence cooperation into practice for the first time, staging a joint air force drill with nuclear-capable French Rafale jets and German Eurofighters.

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