Status of World Nuclear Forces

*Current update: April 2020.All numbers are approximate estimates and further described in ourFAS Nuclear Notebookspublished in theBulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and the World Nuclear Forces overview in theSIPRI Yearbook. Additional reports are published on theFAS Strategic Security Blog. Unlike those “fixed” publications, this web page is updated continuously as new information becomes available, so estimates may differ.

^aWarheads in the “military stockpile” are defined as warheads in the custody of the military and earmarked for use by military forces.
^bThe “total inventory” counts warheads in the military stockpile as well as retired, but still intact, warheads awaiting dismantlement.
^cThis number is higher than the aggregate data under theNew START treaty因为该表也是在轰炸机基地计数轰炸机武器部署。Detailed overview of Russian forces as of 2020 is here. Numbers have been updated for later changes.
^dAll are declared to be in central storage, although some storage sites may be close to bases with operational forces. Several thousand retired non-strategic warheads are awaiting dismantlement.
^eIncludes an estimated 870 strategic warheads and all 1,870 non-strategic warheads.
^fIn addition to the 4,312 warheads in the military stockpile, an estimated 2,60 retired warheads are thought to be awaiting dismantlement. Details are scarce, but we estimate that Russia is dismantling 200-300 retired warheads per year.See 2020 overview of Russian forces here.
^gThis number is higher than the aggregate data released under theNew START databecause this table also counts bomber weapons on bomber bases as deployed.Detailed overview of U.S. forces as of 2020 is here.
^hApproximately 150 B61 bombs are deployed in Europe at six bases in five countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Turkey).For details, see here.
ⁱNon-deployed reserve includes an estimated 1,970 strategic and 80 non-strategic warheads in central storage.
^jThe U.S. governmentdeclaredin March 2018 that its stockpile included 3,822 warheads as of September 2017. Since then, a small number of warheads are thought to have been retired for an estimated 3,800 remaining in the stockpile.
^kIn addition to the roughly 3,800 warheads in the military stockpile and the 2,000 retired warheads awaiting dismantlement, approximately 20,000 plutonium cores (pits) and some 4,000 Canned Assemblies (secondaries) from dismantled warheads are in storage at the Pantex Plant in Texas and Y-12 plant in Tennessee. For a detailed overview of U.S. forces,see here.
^lWeapons for France’s single aircraft carrier are not deployed on the ship under normal circumstances but could be on short notice. Warhead loadings on some submarines missiles have been reduced to increase targeting flexibility. For a detailed overview of French nuclear forces,see here).
^mChina is thought to have “several hundred warheads,” far less than the 1,600-3,000 that has been suggested by some. None of the warheads are thought to be fully deployed but kept in storage under central control. China considers all of its nuclear weapons to be strategic, but the US military calls its medium-and intermediate-range missile non-strategic. The Chinese arsenal is increasing with the production of new warheads for DF-41, DF-26, and additional JL-2 missiles.Detailed overview of Chinese forces is here.
ⁿ每个潜艇英国弹头数量已经从48降低到40。这降低了的“可操作地可用”弹头160〜120通过2020年代中期数目，储存将被减少到“不超过180。”这种减少已经展开。Detailed overview of British forces is here.
^oAlthough Israel has produced enough plutonium for 100-200 warheads, the number of delivery platforms and estimates made by the U.S. intelligence community suggest that the stockpile might include approximately 90 warheads.Detailed 2014 overview of Israeli forces is here.
^pNone of Pakistan’s warheads are thought to be deployed but kept in central storage, most in the southern parts of the country. More warheads are in production.Detailed overview here.
^qIndian nuclear warheads are not deployed but in central storage. More warheads are in production.Detailed overview of Indian forces is here.
^rAfter six nuclear tests, including two of 10-20 kilotons and one of more than 200 kilotons, we estimate that North Korea might have produced sufficient fissile material for roughly 35 warheads, although it is difficult to assess how many warheads may have been assembled or deployed.的朝鲜核能力的详细介绍是这里.
^sNumbers may not add up due to rounding and uncertainty about the operational status of the four lesser nuclear weapons states and the uncertainty about the size of the total inventories of three of the five initial nuclear powers.