As we approach the 2026 NATO Summit, the alliance’s eastward shift in its center of gravity continues to gain momentum.Last week, reports emerged that the United States is now in the early stages of internal conversations within NATO to expand nuclear sharing arrangements to include countries that joined the alliance within the past 30 years, such as Lithuania and Poland.While the U.S. forward deploys tactical nuclear weapons to bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, these conversations do not, for now, relate to opening new weapons depots, but rather to basing dual-capable aircraft — those able to deliver conventional or nuclear ordnance — further east.
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Under nuclear sharing arrangements, some member states voluntarily contribute dual-capable aircraft, such as the F-35, F-16, or Tornado, which are modified and certified to carry U.S. tactical nuclear bombs in future scenarios, while personnel from those countries are trained for the mission.
The latter contribution is reportedly what is currently under discussion. Poland is procuring 32 F-35 aircraft, and the conversation with Lithuania appears tied to hosting American — or, considering their close ties, in the future German — dual-capable aircraft in the country.
