Polaris Sales Agreement (1963)
The United States agreed to sell Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles to the United Kingdom after the cancellation of the US Skybolt missile left Britain's nuclear deterrent without a delivery system. The deal gave Britain access to one of the most sensitive American weapons programs and tied the Royal Navy's nuclear force to US technology for the next 60 years.
Britain laid down four Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines, the first of which entered service in 1968. The deal preserved an independent British deterrent on paper while making it dependent on US missiles and maintenance in practice.
The Polaris framework set the template for the Trident missile deal in 1980 and for AUKUS Pillar One in 2021. Each agreement deepens the merger of US and UK naval nuclear programs.
Pillar One of AUKUS is the same kind of deal stretched to a third country. Pillar Two is now testing whether that closed-club model can produce conventional hardware on a faster cycle than nuclear submarines have ever managed.