PARIS (AFP) — France on Wednesday carried out its first test firing of an updated nuclear-capable missile designed to be launched by a Rafale fighter jet, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.

The ASMPA-R missile was fired without a warhead by a plane in an exercise “above national territory... at the end of a flight representing a nuclear air raid,” Lecornu said in a statement.

In a separate post on X, he congratulated “all the forces, (defense) ministry teams and industrial partners involved” in a “long-planned” operation.

Lecornu’s statement said the French drill aimed to uphold “the credibility of the airborne nuclear element of deterrence” alongside France’s submarine-launched weapons.

The French nuclear missile test came a day after Russia began nuclear drills in its Southern Military District, which borders Ukraine and includes parts of the country Moscow claims to have annexed.

The drills are designed to test “the readiness of personnel and equipment of non-strategic nuclear weapons combat units to respond and to unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement.

The defense ministry published footage showing trucks carrying missiles to a field where launch systems were prepared and troops at an airfield readying a bomber to carry a nuclear warhead.

It said this was the “first stage” of the drills, which involved practicing the loading of launch vehicles, driving to designated launch sites and loading planes with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.

It did not indicate whether any test firings had taken place.

Tactical nuclear weapons, also known as non-strategic nuclear weapons, are designed for use on the battlefield and can be delivered via missiles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the drills earlier this month after a series of Western statements on the Ukraine conflict drew scorn in Moscow.