A look at nuclear arsenal of nations: How many nuclear weapons do Russia, US & China have?

Following Vladimir Putin's statement on placing Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert, fears of a devastating global war have grown. This comes as the Russian President launched military operations in Ukraine claiming the lives of thousands of people including civilians. 

Putin's nuclear threat has sent a chilling message to the world as Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. It is learned that as of now, there are around 13,000 nuclear weapons in the world. 

Considering the intensified war situation in Ukraine pointing at the possibility of World War III, here are countries that have the biggest nuclear arsenal.

Russia

It is widely agreed that Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. According to the Stockholm Peace Institute, as of January 2021, Putin had 6,255 nukes while other organizations monitoring nuclear proliferation have mentioned that there is a total of weapons ranging between 5,977 and 6,257.

Although it is a concerning number, after Russia inherited 35,000 weapons when the USSR collapsed in 1991, the number of nuclear armaments have fallen significantly. It is to be noted that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) was signed by Russia and US. It is an arms control treaty that has been effective since 5 February 2011, which limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and bombs to 1,550.

In 1949, Russia tested its first nuclear bomb in a remote area of Kazakhstan but has never used its nuclear weapons in attacks. 

United States

To date, the US has over 5,500 nuclear weapons, of which 1,800 are ‘deployed’, meaning they are placed on missiles or on bases with operational forces. It is to be noted that it is the only country to ever use an nuclear bomb in war.

A uranium bomb was detonated over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, that claimed the lives of an estimated 140,000 people. Three days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, which killed 74,000 people.

China

After Russia and the US, China is the third country to have a large nuclear arsenal. It has around 350 weapons, which amounts to less than a tenth of the American total.

It was during the Cold War when China first developed its nuclear weapons. From then on, it has been expanding its nuclear arsenal, having added another 30 since 2020.

According to a Pentagon report last November, the Chinese nuclear force was expanding much faster than the US had predicted a year before. The US fears Beijing might have over 1,000 weapons by the year 2030. 

France

France comes fourth in the world when it comes to nuclear arms stock, with 290 weapons, the largest number in western Europe. The country mostly has weapons based on submarines, with the remainder on air-launched cruise missiles. In 1960, France first tested a nuclear strike capability.

United Kingdom

The UK has about 225 nuclear weapons. It was during the Second World War when the country initiated its nuclear arms programme.

UK has arms that are sea-based and carried by Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles purchased from the US. To date, 45 nuclear weapons tests have been carried out by the country, most recently in 1991.

(Image: AP)