French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to modernize the two main components of the country's nuclear deterrent forces, while addressing the representatives of the country's armed forces on Friday.
"[France's capacity for deterrence allows it to preserve] the freedom of action and strategic autonomy… That is why I intend to modernize these two components, the complementariness of which cannot be doubted — the seaborne forces that protect us against any strategic surprise and the air-based component that is due to its visibility is a part of the dialogue on deterrence," Macron said as aired by the president's official Periscope.
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Macron stressed that deterrence had remained the key aspect of the country's defense strategy for over the past 50 years. According to him, the French armed forces' response capacity would be maintained at the highest level. Macron announced that the budget of military operations would be increased from 400 million euros ($489.4 million) to 1.1 billion euros.
The French president indicated that the modernization would be applied to all military areas, including ground forces, aerospace divisions and the office responsible for countering cyber threats.