Germany is considering pouring funds into Britain’s nuclear program as European NATO nations grow increasingly hesitant to rely on the US nuclear umbrella, the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
German officials are discussing financial and industrial support for Britain’s Trident submarine nuclear weapons program rather than pursuing a national arsenal, with one source citing Germany’s World War II guilt as a factor, the newspaper said.
“We have a very strong interest that the existing nuclear powers in Europe extend their capabilities,” one well-placed source told the newspaper.
Berlin is reportedly exploring whether German money or industry could contribute to the next generation of British nuclear submarines, missiles, or uranium enrichment for future warheads. One British defense source, however, questioned whether German companies possess the highly specialized experience needed to build and maintain Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet, which has been reeling under maintenance and manpower issues.
The push comes amid tensions between European NATO members and US President Donald Trump, who has pressed the rest of the bloc to shoulder more of their own defense burden while moving toward reducing the US military footprint on the continent.
“Policymakers are waking up each morning and asking themselves what the hell the Americans are going to do tomorrow,” a German diplomatic source told The Telegraph.
Rather than respond by seeking a national nuclear weapon, Berlin has increasingly looked for ways to bind Germany into the British and French deterrents, the article says.
Together with France, Germany has created a nuclear steering group, and German forces are expected to take part in a French nuclear exercise. However, Berlin is reportedly wary of depending solely on Paris because of President Emmanuel Macron’s looming exit next year and the potential victory of an EU-skeptic candidate.
Germany remains a non-nuclear-weapon state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is formally barred from manufacturing or controlling atomic weapons. The 1990 Two Plus Four Treaty, which paved the way for German reunification, also prohibited foreign nuclear weapons and their carriers from being stationed in the territory of the former East Germany.
Berlin nevertheless already takes part in NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangements and is believed to store 20 US B61 bombs at Buchel Air Base in western Germany under US custody, with German aircraft assigned a potential role in delivering them during a potential NATO nuclear operation.
Last month, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported that at least one NATO country raised “concern about the active research and development work being carried out in Germany that has a nuclear weapons focus.”
It added that NATO specialists believe Germany could produce the necessary fissile material “within one to three months” and build a functioning nuclear explosive device “within a year” without conducting a full-scale test.
Moscow has warned that any NATO plans to buttress its nuclear umbrella are a “direct strategic threat” to Russia.