France and the United Kingdom have conducted their first joint airborne nuclear strike exercise, pairing Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon jets with French Rafale fighters during a simulated nuclear mission over the Mediterranean.

The British Typhoons escorted the French Rafales during the joint mission on Tuesday, according to a statement released Friday by the French Armed Forces Ministry. The Rafale aircraft simulated a nuclear strike, but no actual nuclear weapons were involved.

The operation was conducted as part of exercise Rummy. French officials described the drill as evidence of growing cooperation under an agreement reached last year to strengthen nuclear coordination between the two countries.

France has been working with several European allies on a concept called “forward deterrence.” That work comes amid uncertainty surrounding United States security guarantees for Europe as the continent faces an aggressive Russia.

France and the United Kingdom both operate strategic ballistic missile submarines as elements of their respective nuclear deterrents. France also maintains an airborne nuclear component through Rafale jets capable of carrying nuclear tipped cruise missiles, while the United Kingdom does not operate a comparable airborne component.

French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said cooperation between the two nuclear powers does not diminish their independent capabilities. Instead, the exercise showed how their forces could coordinate while remaining under sovereign national control.

“Having independent nuclear forces doesn’t exclude coordination,” Vautrin said. “By coordinating, our nuclear forces demonstrate that they can contribute even more significantly to the overall security of the alliance and the peace and stability of the Euro-Atlantic zone.”

The British aircraft flew alongside planes from France’s Strategic Air Forces during the Mediterranean operation. The mission placed Royal Air Force Typhoons in an escort role as the French Rafales carried out the simulated strike.

A330 MRTT tanker aircraft also participated, French Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fabien Mandon said in a post on the social network X. French and British crews departed from Saint-Dizier air base in northeastern France.

Mandon said the participants demonstrated a “very high level of interoperability and a capability to coordinate.” His post included an image of three Eurofighters taxiing and another Eurofighter beneath a hard cover bearing the markings of RAF 29 Squadron.

Etienne Marcuz, a senior analyst at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, described the exercise as a major departure from the traditional operating model of the French Strategic Air Forces. He highlighted the British role and the number of Eurofighters involved.

“This is a revolution for the Strategic Air Forces, which have always operated in complete autonomy since their creation in the 1960s,” Marcuz said in a post on X. He called the participation of at least three British Eurofighter aircraft “quite significant.”

The French ministry said the exercise represented an important step in implementing the Northwood Declaration. That declaration reflects a joint determination by France and the United Kingdom to deter threats facing both countries.

Under the declaration reached last year, France and the United Kingdom agreed to deepen their nuclear cooperation and coordination. They also stated that no extreme threat to Europe would fail to prompt a response from both nations.

Exercise Rummy took place on Oct. 20 and 21, according to the ministry. France’s Air and Space Force also regularly conducts simulated nuclear strike exercises known as Poker.

Despite their increased coordination, the two countries retain sovereign and independent nuclear forces. Authority over decisions involving the use of those weapons is not shared between the French and British governments.

The French ministry said the nations would consider employing nuclear weapons only in “extreme circumstances of legitimate defense.” The unprecedented joint flight therefore demonstrated coordination between two independent nuclear powers without transferring control over either country’s arsenal.

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