William Alberque, an arms control expert now with the Pacific Forum, made the assessment in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP). His view echoes comments from Bartosz Grodecki, head of Poland's National Security Bureau, who said after a July visit to Washington that the U.S. side showed "enormous openness" to Poland's participation.
Alberque said the administration of President Donald Trump appears open to bringing Poland into the program, though he cautioned this would likely not mean stationing nuclear weapons on Polish soil during peacetime. A more probable outcome, he said, would be an intermediate arrangement: certifying Polish F-35s to carry nuclear weapons and designating select Polish bases as "Dispersed Operating Bases" (DOBs).
Under the DOB concept, nuclear weapons could be covertly transported to designated bases only in the event of, or in the lead-up to, war. "I don't think there would be nuclear warheads in Poland during peacetime", Alberque said.
Certifying the F-35A would in practice require technical modifications to the aircraft and pilot training, Alberque explained. This includes ensuring weapons-bay hardpoints can hold and release the B61-12, preparing wiring and electronic links to NATO's targeting system, and fitting sighting and release mechanisms. A significant share of Polish Air Force pilots would also need to be trained for the mission.
The Trump administration is "fairly open to this option", Alberque said, adding that the arrangement would benefit both the U.S. and the wider alliance. From a military standpoint, he said, what matters most is how many nuclear-capable aircraft NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) has available at any given time, and how many pilots are trained and ready — availability being affected by maintenance schedules, accidents or illness.
"Having hundreds or thousands of additional aircraft available would be a huge boost for SACEUR, while making it much harder for Russia to target bases, aircraft and pilots early in a crisis or war", Alberque said.
Grodecki appeared to point to a similar arrangement on July 2, though he declined to give details. Asked by PAP whether joining Nuclear Sharing would mean nuclear warheads could be deployed on Polish territory, he said only that it was about "joining the program," adding that a specific formula "is not on the table today".
Poland, he noted, already has "the capability to carry such assets" through its F-35s. He said the "warm reception" in Washington and understanding of Poland's role on NATO's eastern flank meant the issue could now be discussed "very openly and with a positive message".
President Karol Nawrocki said in a September 2025 interview with "Fakt" that acquiring nuclear weapons and joining Nuclear Sharing would be good for Poland's security. "Our experience as a national community shows that Poland never uses its weapons to attack other states — neither its neighbors nor other independent states", he said.
Nuclear Sharing is a NATO program under which the United States deploys nuclear weapons in select member states that lack their own nuclear arsenals — currently Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Turkey. The weapons involved are American B61-family gravity bombs, which remain under exclusive U.S. control in peacetime.
Their use would require a political decision by NATO's Nuclear Planning Group and approval from both the U.S. president and the host nation, after which the bombs could be transferred to allied dual-capable aircraft.
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Source: PAP