Editing Polaris Sales Agreement (section)

==Background==
{{main|Nassau Agreement}}
During the early part of the [[Second World War]], Britain had a [[nuclear weapons]] project, codenamed [[Tube Alloys]].{{sfn|Gowing|1964|pp=108–111}} In August 1943, the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], [[Winston Churchill]] and the [[President of the United States]], [[Franklin Roosevelt]], signed the [[Quebec Agreement]], which merged Tube Alloys with the American [[Manhattan Project]].{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|p=277}} The British government trusted that the United States would continue to share nuclear technology, which it regarded as a joint discovery,{{sfn|Goldberg|1964|p=410}} but the 1946 [[United States Atomic Energy Act of 1946|McMahon Act]] ended cooperation.{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974a|pp=106–108}} Fearing a resurgence of [[United States isolationism]], and Britain losing its [[great power]] status, the British government restarted its own development effort,{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974a|pp=181–184}} now codenamed [[High Explosive Research]].{{sfn|Cathcart|1995|pp=23–24, 48, 57}} The first British atomic bomb was tested in [[Operation Hurricane]] on 3 October 1952.{{sfn|Cathcart|1995|p=253}}{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974b|pp=493–495}} The subsequent [[British hydrogen bomb programme|British development of the hydrogen bomb]], and a favourable international relations climate created by the [[Sputnik crisis]], led to the McMahon Act being amended in 1958, and the restoration of the nuclear [[Special Relationship]] in the form of the [[1958 US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement]] (MDA), which allowed Britain to acquire nuclear weapons systems from the United States.{{sfn|Navias|1991|pp=193–198}}

Britain's [[nuclear weapon]]s armament was initially based on [[free-fall bomb]]s delivered by the [[V bomber]]s of the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF), but the possibility of the crewed bomber becoming obsolete by the late 1960s due to improvements in anti-aircraft defences was foreseen. In 1953, work began on a [[medium-range ballistic missile]] (MRBM) called [[Blue Streak (missile)|Blue Streak]],{{sfn|Jones|2017|p=37}} but by 1958, there were concerns about the vulnerability of this liquid-propellant-missile to a [[pre-emptive nuclear strike]].{{sfn|Moore|2010|pp=42–46}} To extend the effectiveness and operational life of the V bombers, an air-launched, rocket-propelled [[standoff missile]] called [[Blue Steel (missile)|Blue Steel]] was developed,{{sfn|Wynn|1994|pp=186–191}} but it was anticipated that the air defences of the [[Soviet Union]] would improve to the extent that V bombers might still find it difficult to attack their targets.{{sfn|Wynn|1994|pp=197–199}} A solution appeared to be the American [[AGM-48 Skybolt|Skybolt]] missile, which combined the range of Blue Streak with the mobile basing of the Blue Steel, and was small enough that two could be carried on an [[Avro Vulcan]] bomber.{{sfn|Moore|2010|pp=47–48}}

An institutional challenge to Skybolt came from the [[United States Navy]], which was developing a [[submarine-launched ballistic missile]] (SLBM), the [[UGM-27 Polaris]]. The US [[Chief of Naval Operations]], [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[Arleigh Burke]], kept the [[First Sea Lord]], [[Lord Mountbatten]], apprised of its development.{{sfn|Young|2002|pp=67–68}} By moving the deterrent out to sea, Polaris offered the prospect of a deterrent that was invulnerable to a first strike, and reduced the risk of a nuclear strike on the British Isles.{{sfn|Young|2002|p=61}} The British Nuclear Deterrent Study Group (BNDSG) produced a study that argued that SLBM technology was as yet unproven, that Polaris would be expensive, and that given the time it would take to build the boats, it could not be deployed before the early 1970s.{{sfn|Jones|2017|pp=178–182}} The [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] Defence Committee therefore approved the acquisition of Skybolt in February 1960.{{sfn|Young|2002|p=72}} The Prime Minister, [[Harold Macmillan]], met with the President, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], in March 1960, and secured permission to buy Skybolt. In return, the Americans could base the [[US Navy]]'s Polaris [[ballistic missile submarine]]s in the [[Holy Loch]] in Scotland.{{sfn|Moore|2010|pp=64–68}} The financial arrangement was particularly favourable to Britain, as the US was charging only the [[unit cost]] of Skybolt, absorbing all the research and development costs.{{sfn|Harrison|1982|p=27}} With this agreement in hand, the cancellation of Blue Streak was announced in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] on 13 April 1960.{{sfn|Moore|2010|pp=47–48}}

The subsequent American decision to cancel Skybolt created a political crisis in the UK, and an emergency meeting between Macmillan and President [[John F. Kennedy]] was called in [[Nassau, Bahamas]].{{sfn|Jones|2017|pp=372–373}} Macmillan rejected the US offers of paying half the cost of developing Skybolt, and of supplying the [[AGM-28 Hound Dog]] missile instead.{{sfn|Jones|2017|pp=375–376}} This brought options down to Polaris, but the Americans would only supply it on condition that it be used as part of a proposed [[Multilateral Force]] (MLF). Kennedy ultimately relented, and agreed to supply Britain with Polaris missiles, while "the Prime Minister made it clear that except where Her Majesty's Government may decide that supreme national interests are at stake, these British forces will be used for the purposes of international defence of the Western Alliance in all circumstances."{{sfn|Moore|2010|p=177}} A joint statement to this effect, the [[Nassau Agreement]], was issued on 21 December 1962.{{sfn|Moore|2010|p=177}}