France Announces New Home Base For Future Rafales
French President Emanuel Macron announced Tuesday that the Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur air base will be the first base to host squadrons of a future Dassault Rafale variant equipped with hypersonic nuclear missiles.
During a visit to the base, Macron announced the base (also known as Air Base 116) near France’s borders with Germany and Switzerland would undergo a 1.5 billion euro infrastructure upgrade program over the next decade, to facilitate the stationing of two new squadrons of Rafales by 2035. Macron described the purchase of new Rafales on accelerated schedules as an “imperative” due to the “current context”.
The infrastructure upgrades also cover base accommodations. In his speech, Macron estimated that the military and civilian personnel stationed at the base will double to nearly 2,000 by 2035. When family members are included, the estimate reaches 4,000 people, with Macron adding that the influx of new residents would benefit the region.
The planned deployment of the hypersonic nuclear missile-equipped Rafales from 2035 onward will end a 24 year hiatus in the air base’s role in France’s nuclear deterrent, with French Air Force nuclear-capable aircraft previously deployed at Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur between 1966 and 2011.
“Our country and our continent will have to continue to defend, equip and prepare ourselves if we want to avoid war”, said Macron in a speech. “That is the choice we have made, which we will continue to make. (Nuclear) Deterrence is a historic and essential component of the defence of the nation in this regard. And that’s an opportunity for our country.”
Macron also thanked the base’s airmen for their role in training Ukrainian pilots on donated Mirage 2000-5 strike aircraft, disclosing that the Mirages now in Ukrainian service had departed from Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur, stating “(Ukrainian) success is also yours”.
Macron has previously indicated his willingness to extend French nuclear deterrence to other NATO members amidst growing skepticism of the United States’ commitment to the alliance’s mutual defense clause, as well as the alliance’s “nuclear sharing” of tactical nuclear weapons.