Nick Harvey, a Liberal Democrat minister in the British Defense Ministry, told British newspaper The Guardian that such a proposal was put to French defense experts last week. He said the idea to share submarines armed with nuclear missiles was warmly received.

It would be a major turnaround for traditional naval rivals France and Britain.

Both countries have a fleet of submarines armed with nuclear ballistic missiles, enabling them to have one sub constantly at sea to strike in case of an attack.

In Britain, the nuclear deterrent called Trident is up for a renewal that could cost upward of $30 billion -- just as defense budgets across Europe are shrinking.

London last October announced it would cut defense spending by 8 percent but agreed not to make a decision on Trident until after the next election, which is scheduled for May 2015. France has previously suggested it was open for cooperating on the nuclear deterrent.

Both powers in November signed extensive military cooperation deals that foresee aircraft carrier sharing, a joint rapid-reaction ground force, the coordinated development of high-tech arms and joint nuclear weapons testing.

British Defense Minister Liam Fox, a conservative, has in the past spoken out against sharing the nuclear deterrent. But Harvey said London may have no choice but to reconsider.

"The U.K. needs to revisit the case in the long term for the U.K. maintaining a permanent 24-7 at sea capability. We pay an enormous premium to maintain this," Harvey told The Guardian. "It is quite feasible that we could continue with a permanent at sea submarine patrol in conjunction with the French either with three British submarines as proposed to the current four."

France and Britain could "work together on research and development of replacement submarines, so nearly halving the development costs," he added. "Over a 25 to 30-year cycle … the potential is to save many billions of pounds."

Countering possible fears of the loss of national sovereignty, Harvey said both nations could maintain separate command operations.

"It is unlikely we would face circumstances in which Britain would be faced with an external nuclear threat that would not apply to the French national interest at the same time," he said.

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