Nuclear sharing and hosting
Six countries keep nuclear weapons on their soil without owning a single one. How the arrangements work, where the weapons sit, and who would actually decide to use them.
How NATO nuclear sharing works
Since the 1950s the United States has forward-based nuclear bombs in Europe and trained allied air forces to deliver them. The current arrangement involves an estimated hundred B61 gravity bombs — modernized to the B61-12 version since 2022 — stored in underground vaults at six bases in five countries. In peacetime the weapons belong to, and are guarded by, US Air Force munitions squadrons: the host country cannot touch them. Their use would require the US President to release them and a collective NATO decision, after which the host nation's aircraft and pilots would fly the mission — the so-called dual-key principle.
The five hosts — Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey — are all non-nuclear-weapon states under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. NATO's position is that the arrangement is compatible with the NPT because the weapons never change hands in peacetime and the treaty predates it; critics, and the states behind the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, dispute that reading. The numbers involved are a fraction of the Cold War posture, when more than 7,000 US warheads of every kind sat in Europe.
The club is changing shape. Every host except Turkey is moving its nuclear role to the F-35A — the Netherlands certified first in 2024 — while Turkey, excluded from the F-35 program, retains storage at Incirlik with no national delivery aircraft assigned. In June 2025 the United Kingdom, already a nuclear power at sea, announced it would buy 12 F-35As and join the sharing arrangement, adding a seventh base — RAF Lakenheath — to the map. France, by deliberate policy, takes no part: its deterrent is fully national, though Paris has opened a dialogue on a European role for it.
Russia cites NATO sharing as precedent for its own arrangement: since 2023 it has reported basing nonstrategic warheads in Belarus, whose Iskander brigades and adapted aircraft train for the role under Russian custody. How many warheads are actually stored on Belarusian soil — if any permanently — cannot be independently verified.
The arrangements
| Country | Owner | Est. warheads | Base | Delivery aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇪 Germany | United States | ~15 | Büchel Air Base | Tornado, F-35 Lightning II |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | United States | ~35 | Ghedi Air Base, Aviano Air Base | Tornado, F-35 Lightning II |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | United States | 10–15 | Volkel Air Base | F-35 Lightning II |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | United States | 10–15 | Kleine Brogel Air Base | F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-35 Lightning II |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | United States | ~20 | Incirlik Air Base | None assigned |
| 🇧🇾 Belarus | Russia | Unconfirmed | Asipovichy area (suspected) | Su-25 Frogfoot |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is NATO nuclear sharing?
An arrangement dating to the Cold War under which the United States forward-bases B61 gravity bombs in Europe while allied air forces provide the aircraft and crews that would deliver them. The weapons stay under US custody in peacetime; their use would require authorization by the US President and a NATO decision. Five countries currently host the bombs, and the United Kingdom announced in 2025 it would join the arrangement.
Do the host countries own the weapons?
No. All host states are non-nuclear-weapon states under the NPT, and the bombs remain American (or, in Belarus, Russian) property under the owner's guard. NATO argues the arrangement predates and complies with the NPT; supporters of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons dispute that reading.
How many US nuclear weapons are in Europe?
An estimated 100 or so B61 bombs, spread across six bases in five countries — down from more than 7,000 US warheads in Europe at the Cold War peak. The modernized B61-12 replaced the older versions from 2022 onward. Exact numbers per base are classified; the figures on this page are Federation of American Scientists estimates.
Why does Belarus host Russian nuclear weapons?
Moscow and Minsk announced the basing in March 2023, presenting it as a mirror of NATO sharing. Belarus amended its constitution in 2022 to drop its non-nuclear status, and its Iskander brigades and adapted aircraft train for the role. How many Russian warheads are actually stored on Belarusian territory — if any permanently — cannot be independently confirmed.