United States-NATO Nuclear Weapons Sharing
The Netherlands ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on 2 May 1975.
In the past (1960's till 1990's) the Netherlands took part in deployments of NATO nuclear artillery shells for its self-propelled howitzers and missile artillery units. These 8 inch shells and warheads for Honest John and later Lance missiles were stored at the special ammunition storages 't Harde and Havelterberg. They are not operational anymore.
Until 2006 Royal Netherlands Navy P-3 Orion aircraft and their predecessors the P-2 Neptunes, based at former Airbase Valkenburg near Leiden and Curaçao in the Caribbean were assigned U.S. Navy Nuclear Depth Bombs (NDB) for use in anti-submarine warfare. These weapons were originally the Mk 101 Lulu yielding 11 kT, and a later replacement the Mk-57 (also referred to as the B-57).
The NDBs were stored under U.S. Marine guard at RAF St. Mawgan, Cornwall, UK, with 60 similar weapons stored there for RAF Shackleton and Nimrod aircraft. The storage arrangements were agreed between the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and President Johnson in 1965 in a secret memorandum now declassified in the UK archives.
At present (2008) the USAF still provides 22 tactical B61 nuclear bombs for use by the Netherlands under the NATO nuclear weapons sharing agreement. These weapons are stored at Volkel Air Base and in time of war they may be delivered by Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 warplanes.
Many countries believe this violates Articles I and II of the NPT, where the Netherlands has committed:
- "... not to receive the transfer from any transferor whatsoever of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or of control over such weapons or explosive devices directly, or indirectly ... or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices ...".
The U.S. insists its forces control the weapons and that no transfer of the nuclear bombs or control over them is intended "unless and until a decision were made to go to war, at which the treaty would no longer be controlling", so there is no breach of the NPT.
Read more about this topic: Netherlands And Weapons Of Mass Destruction
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