폴란드, 나토 핵공유 프로그램에 참가할 준비가 돼 있다

[위종민]

폴란드의 아드레이 두다 대통령이 바르샤바 일간지 Fakt와의 4월 22일자 인터뷰에서 전투기에 미국산 전술 핵무기를 배치할 수 있는 나토 5개국에 폴란드가 합류할 수 있다고 밝혔네요. 

러시아의 칼리닌그라드 군사화로 폴란드가 직접적으로 위협받고 있다고 우려를 표명한 뒤 나토가 폴란드와 핵공유를 확대하기로 결정한다면 이를 받아들일 준비가 돼 있다고 말했습니다. 두다 대통령의 주장으로는 벨라루스가 2022년부터 전투기에 러시아 핵무기를 탑재할 수 있게 됐으며 알렉산더 루카셴코 벨라루스 대통령이 12월에 무기가 도착했고 언제든 배치할 수 있다고 확인했다고 합니다. 

다만 도날드 투스크 총리는 아직 정부 차원에서 결정된 것은 아니고 국가적 차원에서 추가 논의가 필요하다고 말했습니다. 

만약 NPT가 존재함에도 불구하고 나토 핵공유 프로그램이 참가자 확대가 가능하다면 한국도 나토 가입 - 핵공유 프로그램 참가는 추진해 볼 만한 옵션인 것 같습니다. 

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/president-says-poland-ready-to-join-nato-nuclear-sharing/

A joint test assembly undergoes a flight test at Sandia National Laboratories’ Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center received formal approval in late October 2018 to enter the production phase for the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb’s new guided tail-kit assembly, or TKA. Air Force photo.

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President Says Poland ‘Ready’ to Join NATO Nuclear Sharing

April 22, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Poland may join the five NATO countries which could deploy U.S.-made tactical nuclear weapons on its fighters in a European armed conflict, Polish president Adrzej Duda said in a interview published April 22.

Duda, in an interview with the Warsaw publication Fakt, voiced concerns that Russia has been “militarizing” the enclave of Kaliningrad—its Switzerland-sized province on the Black Sea that borders Poland and Lithuania, but which is geographically cut off from Russia—and that this poses a direct threat to Poland. Russia claimed Kaliningrad from Germany as reparations  following World War II.

If NATO decides to expand “nuclear sharing” with Poland to strengthen NATO deterrence in the region, Poland “is ready” to accept this role, Duda said.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, however, said the matter is a “massive idea” that has not been decided by the full government and requires further discussion on a national scale. The Associated Press quoted Tusk as saying Poland “must be absolutely positive we want” to have the nuclear role. There is no timetable for such a decision to be made.  

The AP also quoted the Russian defense ministry as saying that deploying American nuclear weapons on Polish soil would be met with “all the necessary retaliatory steps to guarantee our safety.”

The “nuclear sharing” arrangement allows Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey to deploy American B61 tactical nuclear bomb weapons on their fighters under NATO control. Most of those countries also agree to store those weapons.

Duda noted that neighboring Belarus has been able to carry Russian tactical weapons on its fighters since 2022, and that Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko confirmed in December that the weapons had arrived and could be deployed at any time.

Belarus has hosted a number of wargames with Russia before and since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022; wargames that seemed aimed toward military action against Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In response to Baltic NATO country concerns about a Russian move against them, the U.S. and other NATO partners began rotational deployments of ground forces and fighters to reinforce the region that continue today.   

All of the nuclear sharing nations with the exception of Turkey have or have signed up to buy the F-35 stealth fighter. When Germany formally announced it was buying F-35s in late 2022, it specifically mentioned the need for a more modern fighter to carry out the nuclear mission. Turkey was drummed out of the F-35 program when it agreed to buy Russian surface-to-air S-400 air defense systems, which NATO partners said would imperil the F-35’s stealth secrets. Instead, the U.S. recently sold Turkey new F-16s.

Poland agreed to buy 32 F-35s in 2022 for $4.6 billion, but it already has advanced F-16s that could carry out the nuclear mission. Poland will accept its first F-35s within the next year, operating them initially at Luke Air Base, Ariz. for training of Polish pilots. The full complement will be delivered to Poland by 2030.

The F-35 was certified to carry and deploy the B61-12 tactical nuclear weapon last fall, but this was only acknowledged in March. The certification required 10 years of effort across 16 government agencies, a spokesperson for the F-35 Joint Program Office said.

[백선호]

폴란드가 도입하는 F-35A가 B61-12를 쓰겠네요.

[위종민]

한국도 가입만 한다면 바로 운용이 가능하니... ㅎㅎㅎ

[사처포(곽명기)]

NATO의 통제 아래...라는 말은 '미국의 허락 받고서'로 이해해도 될까요 ?

[위종민]

https://cafe.daum.net/NTDS/5q3/731

나토 핵공유 프로그램의 경우엔 프랑스 외의 나토 회원국으로 이뤄진 나토 핵기획단(NPG)의 승인과 영국 수상 / 미국 대통령의 결재가 필요합니다.