Le Terrible News Today

The nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Le Terrible successfully fired an M51 ballistic missile in Brittany.

France was the fourth country to join the so-called “Nuclear Club,” and at the height of the Cold War maintained its own nuclear triad of land-based missiles, nuclear-armed bombers and ballistic missile submarines. Today, France’s sea-based nuclear deterrent is the home of most of its nuclear arsenal, with four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, of French design and construction, providing constant assurance against surprise nuclear attack. France’s nuclear weapons arsenal be...

Newest Triomphant-class SSBN undergoes 30-month overhaul. The Le Terrible has arrived in the naval base at Brest for a major refit. ‘This will be the first FCD [full cycle docking] for Le Terrible and will involve 14 months of industrial activities to modernise the ship and restore its operational potential for the coming 10 years,’ the French MoD and prime contractor Naval Group announced on 8 January. Work on the FCD is divided between Brest and the L’Île Longue strategic submarine ...