Germany and weapons of mass destruction
Although Germany has the technical capability to produce weapons of mass destruction (WMD), since World War II it has refrained from producing those weapons. However, Germany participates in the NATO nuclear weapons sharing arrangements and trains for delivering United States nuclear weapons. Officially, 20 US-nuclear weapons are stationed in Büchel, Germany. It could be more or fewer, but the exact number of the weapons is a state secret.
Protest in Bonn against the deployment of Pershing II missiles in West Germany, 1981
Demonstration against nuclear weapons in Germany at Büchel Air Base in 2008
Weapon of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a biological, chemical, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great damage to artificial structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II, it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of warfare-related technologies, such as biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear warfare.
Protest in Amsterdam against the deployment of Pershing II missiles in Europe, 1981
An atomic-bomb blueprint
Anti-nuclear weapons protest march in Oxford, 1980