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Explore World Nuclear Forces
During the Cold War there were about 70 000 nuclear weapons in the world. Since then the number has declined year by year. However, this trend has stalled. All nine nuclear armed states are modernizing, and some are increasing the size of their arsenals.
Explore the changes.
Check out: How powerful is a nuclear weapon
Two types of nuclear weapon systems
There are strategic weapons. They typically use long-range bomber and missile delivery systems on land and at sea and carry warheads with high explosive yields. They can reach strategic targets such as military bases, command and control centers and major cities on other continents.
There are also non-strategic weapons. During the Cold War they were also called tactical weapons or battlefield weapons. These usually have warheads with lower explosive yield have relatively short ranges. During the last year a new name has evolved: sub-strategic nuclear weapons.
There is no clear definition or argreement among the nuclear weapons-possesing states on the difference between strategic or non-strategic (tactical) nuclear weapons. This reflects the different roles they have in the military doctrines and plans.
First nuclear weapon
”Little Boy” was the first nuclear weapon used in war. It had a relatively low explosive yield compared with later nuclear warheads. The Hiroshima bomb was used by the U.S. to destroy a large city as part of a strategy to compel the Japanese government to surrender and end the war.
The yield of the explosion was later estimated at 15 kilotons (the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT).
Explore the numbers of warheads since 2005
Drag to change years.
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Explore the arsenals in 2024
Several nuclear-armed states have a “nuclear triad” - a military force structure that consists of nuclear-armed missiles and bombs launched from plattforms on the ground, in the air and at sea.
Source: SIPRI Yearbook 2024. The data are estimates, as of January 2024 and not exact numbers.
Supersonic missiles, drones and artificial intelligence
All nine nuclear-weapon possesing states are investing enormous sums for building new and more modern nuclear weapons. This is happening in step with the old nuclear weapons from the Cold War being phased out.
Unmanned underwater drones are now being developed, as well as hypersonic weapons that can be used to attack at extremely high speeds. Artificial intelligence is used to a greater extent.
Around 2 100 warheads are kept in a state of high operational readiness.
Below are three questions about nuclear weapons to Hans Kristensen, nuclear weapons expert at Stockholms International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
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High alert
During the Cold War, nuclear weapons existed primarily to deter the opposite side from using them first. However, that is changing and there is an increased risk of the first use of nuclear weapons.
In the US-Russian context, this is because in 2019 both countries withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty).
The treaty had banned the U.S. and Russia, as the successor state to the Soviet Union, from building or possesing ground-launched nuclear and conventional ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5 500 kilometers. Now Russia and the US are developing such weapons with nuclear and conventional roles.
In connection with Russia's military attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian representatives have made repeated statements on the use of nuclear weapons. This has led international observers to express concern about the operational readiness of Russia’s nuclear forces and its willingness to use them.
”The Russian population is being primed for a scenario in which it will be considered legitimate for Russia to use nuclear weapons. The threshold for threats of nuclear weapons use has been lowered.” the Swedish government wrote in May 2022 in its analysis that is the basis for Sweden's application for NATO membership.
The number of usable warheads is increasing in Russia
The U.S. and Russia have heavily reduced the total number of warheads. However, the number of usable (operational) warheads has not decreased at the same rate. In Russia the trend has reversed and the number is increasing.
In the diagrams below, you can see how the arsenals of the two states have developed since 2005. The height on the graph corresponds to the country's total number of warheads. The red area is the part that is operational, usable warheads.
Click in the graphic to change the year.
Usable warheads Other warheads
At the same time, there is great uncertainty about exact numbers because Russia lacks in transparency, according to Stockholms International Peace Research Institute SIPRI. The uncertainty applies particularly to the number of non-strategic (tactical) weapons, where Russia is superior to the United States in numbers.
What would happen if an atomic bomb exploded where you live?
Write a location and select warhead.
In some types of shelters, people can survive a nuclear attack. Sources: United states nuclear regulatory comission, Alex Wellestein (nuclearsecrecy.com), atomicarchive.com, SIPRI Yearbook 2024, outrider.org
Sweden intended to build nuclear weapons – watch the video story
Sweden had advanced plans to acquire nuclear weapons during the Cold War. But the project was shelved in the 1970s in exchange for protection by the US nuclear umbrella. That's according to research leader Robert Dalsjö at Sweden´s Defense Research Institute (FOI). This is also evident from documents that SVT News found in American archives.
In 2019 Sweden's Minister of Defense said that no such guarantees existed at that time.
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What happens with ”retired” nuclear weapons?
If nuclear weapons are dismantled, the highly enriched uranium contained in the warheads can be blended down and used in civilian nuclear reactors.
Between 1993 and 2013, the United States and Russia had the ”Megatons to Megawatts” agreement which the USA bought uranium from surplus Russian nuclear weapons and used it in its civilian nuclear power plants.
Plutonium can be mixed into so-called mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and used in nuclear reactors.
The United States and Great Britain have long-term storage arrangements for of the plutonium left over from disassembled warheads. Russia is assumed to do the same.
Source: SIPRI/FAS
Here you can check out more from SVT:s Data Journalist Team
Källa: SIPRI World Nuclear Forces 2024
Uppdaterad: 17 june 2024