France Deploying Nuclear-Armed Rafale Fighters to Poland to Simulate Attacks on Russia and Belarus

Source : militarywatchmagazine.com – Avril 24, 2026

https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/france-nuclear-rafale-poland-attacks

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rance and Poland are preparing to conduct exercises over the Baltics involving Rafale fighter jets equipped with nuclear warheads, which will simulate strikes on targets in Russia and Belarus. The Rafale fighters will be deployed on Polish territory, but will remain entirely under French control. The deployment is reportedly related to plans for a nuclear sharing agreement under which Poland will gain access to French nuclear warheads, possibly to equip its F-16 or F-35A fighters. While Polish officials have for years called for a nuclear sharing agreement to be reached with the United States, European states have widely raised the possibility of France sharing its own nuclear arsenal to provide European Union members with an ability to launch nuclear attacks independently of Washington. 

Polish Air Force F-35A Fighter

In the first week of April the French Air Force deployed Rafale fighters to Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania, a facility located 130 kilometres from Russian territory, to take the lead in NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission. In the third week of April the fighters engaged Russian Su-30SM fighters, which are thought to be operated by the Russian Navy from facilities in the Kaliningrad region. The Rafales were subsequently involved in shadowing Tu-22M3 strategic bombers a their escorts. The deployment of Rafale fighters for unprecedented nuclear war drills in Poland has occurred as France has rapidly expanded its presence in Eastern Europe, both in the air and on the ground, and as French ground units, primarily contractors, play a central role in the ongoing war effort against Russia in the Ukrainian theatre. French forces have also assumed a leading role in boarding and taking over civilian cargo ships in international waters that are carrying Russian goods, in particular fossil fuels, as part of a broader Western campaign that has been criticised internationally for its lack of legal justification.

Rafale with ASMP-A Missile

Rafale fighters deliver nuclear attacks using the ASMP-A, a medium range cruise missile weighting approximately 1,200 kilograms, which has a relatively limited 300 kilometre range. A leading strength of the missile design is its Mach 3 speed, which allows for penetration of well defended enemy airspace and makes it more challenging to intercept than subsonic cruise missiles such as the SCALP. The missile uses a combination of inertial navigation and terminal phase radar homing, and delivers a TN81 warhead with a payload of up to 300 kilotons. The ASMP-A is the only air-launched nuclear weapon fielded by a European state. France remains the only nuclear weapons state without a clear path to fielding a fifth generation fighter, with its refusal to procure the F-35 set to leave it as the only major air force in Europe without such aircraft, ensuring that the limitations of the Rafale will continue to undermine the potency of its nuclear strike capabilities. 

Rafale Fighter

In March 2025 French President Emmanuel Macron announced the planned opening of a fourth airbase hosting with nuclear-capable fighter aircraft, with the ongoing war in Ukraine cited as a factor in the decision. The first new nuclear armed Rafale squadron will gain an operational capability in 2033, followed by a second operational squadron in 2036. The French government was reported the previous month to be considering options for the deployment of nuclear armed Rafale fighters to Germany, with subsequent calls having been made by German’s chancellor-elect Friedrich Merz for talks with his British and French colleagues about European “nuclear sharing or at least nuclear security.” With the Rafale not being widely operated in Europe, a nuclear sharing agreement could see French warheads adapted to be integrated onto weapons for the F-16 or F-35 which have been procured by Poland and other NATO members.

Vehicles Associated with the Oreshnik Missile System in Belarus

Europe has by far the most nuclear-armed states of any continent in the world, with two of the world’s five nuclear weapons states, Britain and France, while Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey are all also guaranteed access to U.S. B61 tactical nuclear bombs deployed on their territories should war break out under a Nuclear Sharing Program. This amounts to a total of seven of the world’s 15 states with offensive nuclear capabilities. The possibility remains that countries that already have nuclear sharing agreements with the United States will simultaneously also enter such agreements with France to reduce their reliance on Washington. A considerable source of uncertainty remains to what extent the French nuclear industry would be able to produce sufficient nuclear warheads not only for its own needs, but also to share with other NATO members. Alongside the integration of warheads onto air-launched weapons, President Macron in January stated that his country and its European partners would work towards expedited development of new long-range weapons, highlighting the need to field a similar capability to that provided by Russia’s new Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile. This new system could also play a central role in nuclear sharing agreements.