A public document from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, dated April 16, 2019, on nuclear deterrence, confirmed what everyone had already known for a long time: American nuclear warheads are indeed present on the Belgian base. by Kleine-Brogel. Urgently summoned by the new parliamentary Defense committee – and despite being one of the worst kept secrets of the Belgian federal state – the Minister of Defense, Didier Reyners, reiterated the official position: no confirmation nor disconfirmation.
For the latter, as for NATO, this document would have no official value. For decades, a general position of the Atlantic Alliance has been commonly accepted, preventing Belgian political leaders from saying clearly what everyone has already known for a long time. Mr. Reynders in his response to parliamentarians made no exception and hammered home the official position of the government, “ Belgium has agreed to NATO's strategic concept which provides for deterrence to be based on conventional and nuclear capabilities. In this framework of deterrence, like NATO, Belgium has never confirmed, nor denied, the presence of nuclear weapons on its territory. ».
And yet, from the 1980s, the fragility of this “open secret” was striking: the former chief of staff of the Belgian Air Force, Guido von Hecke, recognized the presence of nuclear warheads. on its Kleine-Brogel base. The said report itself confirms, in black and white, the presence of 150 warheads disseminated by the United States in Europe in six American and European bases in Germany (Büchel), Italy (Aviano and Ghedi-Torre), Turkey (Inçirlik ), Belgium (Kleine-Brogel) and the Netherlands (Volkel).
The report also tells us that the current B61 type bombs – dropped by the F-16 Fighting Falcons of the 10e Tactical Wing1 - will be renewed with B61-12 bombs, which has certainly not been without consequences in the replacement of Belgian combat aircraft: Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter is the only one to have the capacity to carry the new bombs B61-12. In this regard, Mr. Reynders declared that “ the choice of the successor to the F-16 was made without taking into account nuclear capability, which was not available at that time ". It is difficult to give credence to such comments when it is now widely accepted that the Belgian call for tenders (RfGP2) directly included the nuclear payload capacity in the section devoted to the potential for evolution and growth of the device.
Thus, in light of this report, Boeing's withdrawal in April 2017 from the call for tenders, then France's decision to propose a strategic partnership around Rafale and outside the RfGP, now make full sense. By opting for the F-35, the Belgian authorities have only confirmed a manifest lack of sincerity in the question of renewing the F-16, reinforcing de facto the idea that solidarity within NATO could be subordinated to the purchase of American equipment.
Finally, the Belgian perception of transatlantic relations is deeply inscribed in the thoughts of the illustrious Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak – one of the founders and Secretary General of NATO (1957-1961) – who declared in 1955: “ the European idea is necessarily a limited idea " and that it was appropriate to consider European construction as one of the elements of a " Atlantic Commonwealth ". In this way, European policy should be constantly evaluated in the light of its compatibility with cooperation in the Atlantic framework. It is clear that the NATO "tropism" remains strong within the Belgian authorities, the aim being to maintain Belgium's place among the most faithful contributors to NATO, and therefore to play a role in the diplomatic and military resolution of the international crises a role out of all proportion to its real investment in allied defense.
Axel Trinquier – Specialist in European defense issues
2 Request for Government Proposal
1 Wing of the air component of the Belgian army based in Kleine-Brogel.