France considers development of medium-range ballistic missile, press reports

Currently, deliberations involve the French Armed Forces General Staff (État-major des armées), the Directorate General of Armaments (Direction générale de l’armement), and the Ministry of Armed Forces. The discussions aim to assess the feasibility and necessity of this missile system, with few details available given the early stage of the project.

The proposed missile is set to differ from France’s existing M51 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which have ranges of 8,000–10,000 km and can carry multiple thermonuclear warheads. The land-based missile would feature a single warhead and active manoeuvring capabilities during its final flight phase, making it harder for missile defence systems to intercept.

Unlike hypersonic glide vehicles, this missile’s design would focus on simplicity to reduce development time and costs. Speculation suggests it would be relatively compact, leveraging advancements in manoeuvrability to enhance survivability.

At present, neither France nor any European NATO member possesses land-based ballistic missiles with such specifications. NATO’s European members rely on shorter-range American MGM-140 ATACMS missiles and South Korean Hanwha Aerospace CTM-290/Ure-I missiles, neither of which exceed a 300 km range. Only the US Army fields the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) with a range of 700 km, but these are not yet available for export.

This French initiative could potentially evolve into a broader European collaboration. Other European programmes, such as the Franco-British-Italian FC/ASW and the multinational ELSA initiative, also aim to develop advanced missile systems. These projects focus on enhancing Europe’s strategic reach with options like high-speed cruise missiles and land-based variants of naval systems.