Poland Could Soon Be Home to NATO Nukes

Poland Could Soon Be Home to NATO Nukes

Dave Patterson

Poland is ready for nukes. As a NATO country with many unfriendly neighbors, having a nuclear umbrella close at hand is clearly appealing. However, when it comes to nuclear arms, just having them available on your real estate is a controversial and tricky issue. This is particularly true for new NATO members. Russia is particularly sensitive about former Warsaw Pact countries gaining prominence in the Alliance.

Sensibilities on this score would be particularly keen regarding Poland, which has become one of the stronger bulwarks against Russian adventurism among the newly matriculated Alliance members. 

The option of having atomic weapons on Polish soil does not suggest that Warsaw would have control or discretion in the use of the weapons. Instead, Poland would be another NATO nation as part of the nuclear sharing with a Dual-Capable Aircraft (DCA), conventional and nuclear, Polish Air Force. The timing for the Polish Air Force (PAF) is fortuitous since it will be integrating 32 DCA fifth-generation stealthy F-35A Lightning IIs in its inventory starting this year.

Currently, seven Alliance member states possess DCA that could be used in a crisis: Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, and the United States. The United Kingdom and France have nuclear weapons with their own appropriate delivery systems. The nuclear sharing concept holds that NATO nations not possessing nuclear weapons have the opportunity to be part of the planning and employment of nuclear arms by contributing aircraft to deliver the weapons.

Nuclear sharing and its place in NATO’s commitment to deterrence are integral to the Alliance’s Strategic Concept, which states:

“The Alliance is committed to ensuring greater integration and coherence of capabilities and activities across all domains and the spectrum of conflict, while reaffirming the unique and distinct role of nuclear deterrence. NATO will continue to maintain credible deterrence, strengthen its strategic communications, enhance the effectiveness of its exercises and reduce strategic risks.”

As expected, Russia has had something to say about the placing of nuclear weapons in Poland. Moscow is against it. In a threatening statement, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov cautioned that “a further round of tension will occur. And in general, this game is very dangerous, its consequences may be hard to predict.” The threats from Moscow are not hard to predict, however. Russians having moved nuclear warheads into Belarus and positioned intermediate-range nuclear-capable missiles close to countries bordering Russia raises the hypocrisy flag on the Kremlin’s spokesman – consequently, his warning rings hollow.