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France: Military Alliances

Asked by Mike WoodConservativeMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 15 September 2025UIN 75028

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 67413 on France: Military Alliances, with reference to the Answer of 22 April 2025 to Question HL6719 on Nuclear Weapons, how his Department defines tactical nuclear weapons.

Answered by Luke Pollard

The UK does not categorise nuclear weapon capabilities as either strategic or sub-strategic/tactical. The UK and NATO have said that any employment of nuclear weapons against NATO would fundamentally alter the nature of a conflict.

The UK’s nuclear weapons are a tool aiming to deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life, and that of our NATO Allies, rather than a warfighting capability intended to achieve a tactical or battlefield military advantage in a conflict.

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