Ascendant Paris to hold European-flavored Bastille Day flyover with nuclear undertones

VIENNA — Billed under the motto “strategic awakening of Europe,” France’s Bastille Day celebrations on July 14 will have a distinctly defiant undertone to them.

A point of particular focus will be the aerial display, which is scheduled to include a full 98 fixed-wing aircraft this year, up from 65 in 2025. Front and center - quite literally - will be France’s most important partners on the European continent.

According to the latest plans , the aerial parade will begin with nine French Alphajet jet trainers of the Patrouille de France flanked by two Ukrainian Mirage 2000B fighter jets. Immediately after will be a formation of two French Rafale jets - one of them from the nuclear forces, or Forces Aériennes Stratégiques - flanked by four key European partners’ air forces: German, Greek, British and Swedish fighter jets.

An earlier version of the government’s envisioned lineup indicated that Berlin would send a Eurofighter, Sweden a Gripen, the UK an F-35 and Greece an F-4 to the parade. The most recent version does not specify the aircraft types.

An earlier version of the French government's flyover lineup graphic, which was online until June 29, showed additional European countries and specific aircraft silhouettes. The file has since been taken offline and replaced. (Screenshot, French Ministry of Defense)

The symbolism is particularly significant for this formation, since all four countries have signed up to some variation of France’s promised forward nuclear deterrence scheme, which Macron launched in theatrical fashion while standing in front of a French nuclear submarine in March.

The initiative promises to extend France’s atomic umbrella over the European continent and has widely been read as a direct consequence of the United States’ disengagement from the old continent. It may also be read as a challenge or at least an alternative to the American domination of European nuclear deterrence.

The U.K., which has its own nuclear weapons, has followed a separate track from the forward deterrence policy, but London, too, has significantly deepened its nuclear cooperation with France. The two countries’ deterrents remain independent but are coordinated under the Northwood Declaration framework signed in 2025.

Notably absent from this year’s flyover is any contingent from the United States. During Trump’s first presidency, in 2017, the Air Force flew in the Thunderbirds’ F-16s, flanked by F-22 Raptors, while Trump and Macron looked on from below.

This year, the focus is wholly European. In addition to the assertive motto, all guest nations will be European. In addition to the fighter jets, there will also be two German C-130 Hercules, as well as one British and one German A-400M Atlas cargo aircraft toward the end of the parade.

An earlier version of the agenda, since taken offline by the French Ministry of Defense, also indicated there would be a Danish F-35, Polish F-16 Fighting Falcon and Spanish F-18 Hornet participating alongside the French Rafale jets near the start of the procession. These were later removed from the program with no further explanation.

European participation in the event in and of itself is nothing new. Last year’s festivities saw fighter jets from Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK fly alongside French jets.

Last year, however, they were flying mostly behind two French Mirage jets, in a formation called “air defense.” This year’s positioning alongside an explicitly nuclear-capable jet in a formation named “Entrée En Premier: Intervention” - which can be roughly translated to “First-Entry Strike Operations” - paints a more forward-positioned picture.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

维也纳——法国将于7月14日举行巴士底日庆祝活动，其口号是“欧洲的战略觉醒”，但庆祝活动将带有明显的挑衅意味。

本次活动的一大亮点将是空中表演，今年计划有98架固定翼飞机参加，而2025年只有65架。法国在欧洲大陆最重要的合作伙伴将占据中心位置——名副其实的中心位置。

根据最新计划，空中阅兵将以法国“法兰西巡逻兵”飞行表演队的九架阿尔法喷气式教练机开场，两侧各有一架乌克兰幻影2000B战斗机护航。紧随其后的是两架法国“阵风”战斗机编队——其中一架来自法国空军（战略空军）——两侧各有一架来自四个主要欧洲伙伴国的空军：德国、希腊、英国和瑞典的战斗机。

政府此前设想的参演阵容显示，柏林将派出一架台风战斗机，瑞典将派出一架鹰狮战斗机，英国将派出一架F-35战斗机，希腊将派出一架F-4战斗机。而最新版本则未明确列出具体机型。

法国政府此前发布的飞行表演队图（截至6月29日仍在线）包含更多欧洲国家以及特定飞机的轮廓。该文件现已下线并被替换。（截图，法国国防部）

这一阵营的象征意义尤为重要，因为这四个国家都签署了法国承诺的前沿核威慑计划的某种版本。今年3月，马克龙站在一艘法国核潜艇前，以戏剧性的方式启动了该计划。

这项倡议旨在将法国的核保护伞扩展到整个欧洲大陆，并被广泛解读为美国从欧洲大陆撤军的直接后果。它也可以被视为对美国主导欧洲核威慑的挑战，或者至少是一种替代方案。

英国拥有自己的核武器，其发展路径与前沿威慑政策有所不同，但伦敦也显著深化了与法国的核合作。两国的核威慑力量保持独立，但在2025年签署的《诺斯伍德宣言》框架下进行协调。

值得注意的是，今年的飞行表演中没有任何美国方的队伍。在特朗普的第一任总统任期内，也就是2017年，美国空军曾派出雷鸟飞行表演队的F-16战斗机，两侧还有F-22猛禽战斗机护航，而特朗普和马克龙则在地面上观看了表演。

今年，整个阅兵式都聚焦于欧洲。除了醒目的主题口号外，所有参演国家都将是欧洲国家。除了战斗机外，阅兵式临近尾声时还将有两架德国C-130大力神运输机，以及一架英国和一架德国A-400M阿特拉斯运输机亮相。

此前一份已被法国国防部撤下的日程表显示，丹麦的F-35、波兰的F-16“战隼”和西班牙的F-18“大黄蜂”战斗机将与法国的“阵风”战斗机一同出现在游行队伍的起点附近。但这些战机后来在未作任何解释的情况下被从日程表中移除。

欧洲参与这项活动本身并不新鲜。去年的庆祝活动中，来自瑞士、比利时、德国、意大利、西班牙和英国的战斗机与法国战机同场竞技。

然而，去年它们大多跟在两架法国幻影战斗机后面飞行，编队名称为“防空”。今年，它们与一架明确具备核打击能力的战斗机并肩飞行，编队名称为“Entrée En Premier: Intervention”（大致可译为“先发制人打击行动”），这描绘了一幅更加前沿部署的景象。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。