Dutch pilots can only use nuclear weapons with prior approval by the US President. He/she has the sole authority to clear the use of the weapons. The Dutch constitution states that the supreme authority over armed forces lies with the government, which here refers to the cabinet, chaired by the prime minister. Thus, the government has the ultimate authority to decide over the deployment of Dutch military pilots. This setup could in principle prevent the use of these weapons – and the Netherlands can also not unilaterally initiate such a use. As soon as Dutch pilots had the power to deploy nuclear weapons, the Netherlands would be in violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) according to the majority of the treaty’s parties.
The use of nuclear weapons is practiced annually, also by Dutch pilots, during the NATO exercise Steadfast Noon. In addition to the US, the UK and the host countries, the exercise involves countries that offer air support for nuclear missions (Support Nuclear Operations with Conventional Air Tactics / SNOWCAT). The current SNOWCAT countries are the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Poland, and Romania. The 2022 exercise was centered at Kleine Brogel Air Base in Belgium where US nuclear weapons are also present.
NATO’s actual operational plans are not public. In principle, the Alliance assesses the likelihood of using nuclear weapons as very low.
NATO does not explicitly rule out nuclear first use, that is the initial use of nuclear weapons by NATO forces in a conventional conflict. This nuclear first use could lead to a nuclear counterstrike and further nuclear escalation. Other use cases for weapons in nuclear sharing arrangements include responding to an adversary’s nuclear first strike with retaliatory nuclear strikes.
[Insert updated map Flight Ranges and Air Defenses here with the combat radii of the F-16 and the F-35A starting from Volkel AB – ask Moritz Kütt, if he can provide this map]
The map shows the ranges of delivery systems that would take off from Volkel Air Base and illustrates a practical problem with NATO’s current deployment. It is easy to see that combat ranges barely extend beyond NATO partner countries. The map also shows Russian air defense positions. However, The F-35 is widely regarded as possessing some of the most advanced stealth capabilities among modern fighter jets, potentially making it exceptionally challenging for enemy air defenses to engage. In addition, NATO partners can principally perform aerial refueling for range extension. Yet, this is only possible in areas with Allied air sovereignty. Therefore, it remains unclear which military targets could be engaged from Volkel Air Base.