RAF Typhoons join a French nuclear air exercise for the first time as UK and France deepen deterrence ties

For the first time, Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters have flown in a French nuclear air exercise, escorting French Rafale jets over the Mediterranean, the UK Ministry of Defence said on October 23. The exercise, called “Rummy”, took place on 20 and 21 October 2026 and did not involve nuclear weapons, according to the release.

The French Rafale jets took off from Saint-Dizier Air Base in France and simulated a nuclear strike mission, with the RAF Typhoons flying as escorts. The British statement said the exercise was held under “robust safety and security arrangements” and focused on how the two air forces work together.

How the two governments described it

UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting called the exercise “a new chapter in the defence nuclear relationship between the United Kingdom and France” and said the two countries, as Europe’s nuclear powers, share “a responsibility to contribute to the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic region”.

French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin, quoted in the same release, said: “Having independent nuclear forces does not exclude coordination.” She added that UK Typhoons took part for the very first time in a French nuclear exercise alongside Rafales, and that coordination shows the two nuclear forces can contribute more significantly to the overall security of the Alliance.

The British release placed Rummy under the Northwood Declaration, the framework for UK-France defence and nuclear cooperation, and the refreshed Lancaster House Agreement. It stressed that both countries keep sovereign, independent nuclear forces and national decision-making.

The wider nuclear picture

The UK government linked the exercise to its own nuclear spending. The release says the UK will invest 63 billion pounds over the next four years in its nuclear deterrent, covering Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS submarines, a new warhead and other work. It also says the UK will buy 12 F-35A aircraft and join NATO’s nuclear mission.

The exercise comes days after NATO’s nuclear planners met in Helsinki. Geopolitiki reported on that discussion in Nuclear deterrence: NATO discusses modernising its nuclear capabilities in Helsinki as the US launches Global Thunder 27.

The Mediterranean setting matters for Greece and Cyprus, whose own air forces train with French and Italian units in the Eastern Mediterranean, as in the recent EUNOMIA exercise, but neither the UK nor the French ministry linked Rummy to the region’s security, and no Greek or Cypriot role in the exercise was announced.

The UK release gives no further detail on the number of aircraft involved, the exact route or any plans for repeat exercises, and the French ministry’s own account was not readable at the time of writing. In its release the British government said the exercise “shows the UK’s commitment to standing united against any threat”.