The United Kingdom and France have agreed to deepen coordination between their independent nuclear deterrents, after senior officials and military personnel from both countries met in London on Tuesday, 10 November 2026.

The meeting of the UK-France Nuclear Steering Group was jointly chaired by the UK Cabinet Office and the Presidency of the French Republic. In a joint statement published on GOV.UK, the two governments said the group discussed the significant progress made in deepening coordination between their deterrents.

The statement said the group noted the importance of any adversary considering threatening the vital interests of either nation knowing that it would be confronted by the combined strength of both forces.

Operation Rummy hailed as a sign of closer alignment

The steering group hailed the UK’s recent participation in France’s airborne nuclear exercise, Operation Rummy, as an indication of the two nations’ increased operational alignment.

France and the UK carried out a joint airborne nuclear strike exercise for the first time during Operation Rummy, with RAF Eurofighter Typhoon jets escorting French Rafale jets on a simulated nuclear-strike mission, Defense News reported. The exercise took place on 20 and 21 October 2026, and no actual nuclear weapons were involved.

The French Armed Forces Ministry described the drill as an important step in putting the Northwood Declaration into practice, showing a determination to deter common threats together.

What the Northwood Declaration says

The Northwood Declaration was signed by the UK prime minister and the French president at the UK-France summit in July 2025. It states for the first time that the two countries’ respective deterrents are independent but can be coordinated, and that there is no extreme threat to Europe that would not prompt a response by both nations.

The declaration also established the Nuclear Steering Group to provide political direction for the cooperation, led by the Presidency of the French Republic and the Cabinet Office, coordinating across nuclear policy, capabilities and operations.

Forward Deterrence and shared testing facilities

The steering group also discussed France’s “Forward Deterrence” initiative. The joint statement said the group emphasised the significant value that Forward Deterrence provided to European security and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic, and the degree to which it further complicated the calculations of potential adversaries in addition to NATO.

Building on the 2010 Teutates Treaty and the UK-France joint testing facility, EPURE, the group agreed to expand cooperation on a range of technical capabilities and to begin reciprocal use of sovereign trials facilities in each country.

The Teutates Treaty, signed in 2010, set up joint working on nuclear warhead safety and security, including the shared EPURE radiographic and hydrodynamic testing facility in France.

Non-proliferation commitments restated

The steering group reaffirmed the shared UK-France commitment to uphold and reinforce the international non-proliferation architecture, and to continue substantive engagement with other Nuclear Weapons States, in particular through the Non-Proliferation Treaty review cycle and in the P5 Process, where France took over from the UK in September 2026.

The P5 Process brings together the five recognised nuclear-weapon states under the Non-Proliferation Treaty: the UK, France, the United States, Russia and China.

The UK and France are Europe’s only nuclear-armed states. Both governments have stressed that their nuclear forces remain sovereign and independent, and that decisions on their use are not shared.

GOV.UK published the joint statement on 10 November 2026, and Defense News reported on the joint Operation Rummy exercise.