Macron Speeds up Rafale Warplane Orders as France Invests in Nuclear Deterrence

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Rafale (R) and A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Rafale (R) and A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Macron Speeds up Rafale Warplane Orders as France Invests in Nuclear Deterrence

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Rafale (R) and A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Rafale (R) and A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025. (AFP)

President Emmanuel Macron said France would order additional Rafale warplanes in the coming years and invest nearly 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) into one of its air bases to equip its squadrons with the latest nuclear missile technology.

Jolted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump's more confrontational stance towards traditional Western allies, European countries are hiking defense spending and seeking to reduce dependence on the United States.

Macron, who has initiated a doubling of the French defense budget over the course of his two mandates, has recently set an even higher target, saying the country should increase defense spending to 3-3.5% of economic output from the current 2%.

He has also offered to extend the protection of France's nuclear weapons, the so-called nuclear umbrella, to other European countries.

"We haven't waited for 2022 or the turning point we're seeing right now to discover that the world we live in is ever more dangerous, ever more uncertain, and that it implies to innovate, to bulk up and to become more autonomous," he said.

"I will announce in the coming weeks new investments to go further than what was done over the past seven years," he told soldiers at one of the country's historical air bases in Luxeuil, eastern France.

Macron said he had decided to turn the base, famed in military circles as the home of American volunteer pilots during World War One, into one of its most advanced bases in its nuclear deterrence program.

The base will host the latest Rafale F5 fighter jets, which will carry France's next-generation ASN4G hypersonic nuclear-armed cruise missiles, which are intended to be operational from 2035 onwards, French officials said.

The French air force will also receive additional Dassault-made Rafale warplanes, in part to replace the Mirage jets France has transferred to Ukraine, Macron said.

"We are going to increase and accelerate our orders for Rafales," he said.

French officials said the 1.5 billion euros were part of the already approved multi-year military spending plan. It remained unclear how France would finance a massive hike in military spending at a time it is trying to reduce its budget deficit.

Macron's speech comes on the day the German parliament approved a massive increase in military spending.



Tens of Thousands Protest in The Hague Against Gaza War

Thousands of people, some waving the Palestinian flag, gather against the Dutch government's Israel policy, as they protest on Malieveld, in The Hague on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
Thousands of people, some waving the Palestinian flag, gather against the Dutch government's Israel policy, as they protest on Malieveld, in The Hague on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Tens of Thousands Protest in The Hague Against Gaza War

Thousands of people, some waving the Palestinian flag, gather against the Dutch government's Israel policy, as they protest on Malieveld, in The Hague on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
Thousands of people, some waving the Palestinian flag, gather against the Dutch government's Israel policy, as they protest on Malieveld, in The Hague on May 18, 2025. (AFP)

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through The Hague on Sunday demanding a tougher stance from the Dutch government against Israel's war in Gaza.

Organizer Oxfam Novib said around 100,000 protesters had joined the march, most dressed in red expressing their desire for a "red line" against Israel's siege on Gaza, where it has cut off medical, food and fuel supplies.

The march also passed the seat of the International Court of Justice, which is hearing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide and last year ordered Israel to halt a military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Israel dismisses accusations of genocide as baseless and has argued in court that its operations in Gaza are self defense and targeted at Hamas fighters who attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Oxfam Novib said the Dutch government had ignored what it said were war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, and urged protesters to demand a tougher line.

Dutch Foreign Affairs minister Caspar Veldkamp earlier this month said he wanted the EU to reconsider cooperation agreements it has with Israel.

But the Dutch government has so far refrained from harsher criticism, and the leader of the largest party in the government coalition, anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders, has repeatedly voiced unwavering support for Israel.

Wilders called Sunday's protesters "confused" and accused them in a post on X of supporting Hamas.