French President Emmanuel Macron announced on March 18, during a visit to the Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur air base, known as "BA 116," in eastern France – which had until then been in the process of being dismantled and confined to air policing missions or occasional reassurance on Europe's eastern flank – that it would once again host nuclear weapons from 2035. This would make it the French army's fourth nuclear air base, after Saint-Dizier in the northeast, Istres in the south and Avord in the center.
The project had been in the works for several years. In June 2024, Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu had already begun to reveal its outlines in a letter addressed to the chairman of the Sénat's Foreign Affairs Committee, Cédric Perrin. But at a time when the debate on the scope of France's nuclear umbrella has opened up in Europe in recent weeks, Macron's visit also had high stakes in terms of "strategic signaling."
According to Macron, the Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur base should accommodate two Rafale fighter squadrons "by 2035" – some 40 aircraft in the latest "F5" standard, compared with just one conventional squadron at present. These aircraft will also be able to carry the French army's future hypersonic nuclear-tipped missile, still in the development phase, the ASN4G (air-to-ground nuclear 4th generation), which is to replace the ASMP-A, the current missile in service with the Strategic Air Forces (FAS), in other words, the aerial component of the deterrent force. The arrival of these two Rafale squadrons at the Luxeuil base will double the FAS's capabilities.
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