Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO.pdf - Program on Strategic ...

Proliferation Treaty (NPT) then being drafted. 73 The
NPG’s charter was initially confined to planning, but
it was to become the main generator of <strong>NATO</strong>’s common
nuclear deterrence culture.
The NPG oversaw the development of <strong>NATO</strong>
nuclear-sharing arrangements, which were initially
secret <strong>and</strong> remained so during the negotiation of the
NPT, which was completed in 1968. Under <strong>NATO</strong>’s
nuclear-sharing arrangement, the nuclear weapons
that the United States provides to allies remain under
U.S. ownership, secured in peacetime by U.S. special
weapons custodial forces (numbering at their maximum
10,000 to 25,000 troops) until, in war or extreme
crisis, a presidential order passes their comm<strong>and</strong> to
the relevant <strong>NATO</strong> comm<strong>and</strong>ers <strong>and</strong> the necessary
operating codes are given to allies. 74
Historically, the shared nuclear weapon delivery
systems covered most forms of U.S. TNWs, including
very large numbers of tactical bombs <strong>and</strong> U.S. 155 milimeter
(mm) nuclear artillery rounds. Surface-to-surface
missiles such as Corporal, Sergeant, Honest John,
<strong>and</strong> Lance were widely shared. Greece, Italy, Turkey,
Belgian, Dutch, <strong>and</strong> Greek forces also operated
nuclear-tipped Nike-Hercules missiles. Canada had
both Bomarc nuclear-armed anti-aircraft missiles <strong>and</strong>
the AIR-2 Genie nuclear-armed air-to-air missile. The
UK, although a nuclear power in its own right, used
U.S. surface-to-surface missiles <strong>and</strong> nuclear artillery
until 1992. Since all <strong>NATO</strong> states are NPT members,
<strong>NATO</strong> nuclear-sharing arrangements involve giving
conditional access to nuclear weapons to countries
that have accepted the official legal status of Non-
<strong>Nuclear</strong> <strong>Weapons</strong> States (NNWS) under the NPT (i.e.,
all <strong>NATO</strong> members except Britain, France, <strong>and</strong> the
United States). The nonaligned movement <strong>and</strong> vari-
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