Nuclear weapons: List of countries with most nuclear warheads

With Russia’s Donetsk militia commander Alexander Khodakovsky yesterday suggesting the usage of nuclear weapons to bring war against Ukraine to an end if NATO is directly involved in military conflict, there are growing concerns and fears across the world that Russia may use nuclear weapons.  

Hyderabad: With Russia’s Donetsk militia commander Alexander Khodakovsky yesterday suggesting the usage of nuclear weapons to bring war against Ukraine to an end if NATO is directly involved in military conflict, there are growing concerns and fears across the world that Russia may use nuclear weapons.

Russia is also flexing its muscles by showing off its nuclear weapons ahead of the upcoming Strategic Missiles Forces Day on December 17. Amid all these happenings, there are certain facts you need to know about countries that possess nuclear warheads.

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According to the Federation of American Scientists, an American non-profit global policy think tank, there are approximately 12,700 nuclear warheads owned by 9 different countries as of early 2022. And around 90 per cent of those weapons are owned by the USSR and the US.

United States, Russia, France, Israel, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, China, and North Korea are the nine countries that own nuclear weapons.

The American think tank also said that Russia and the US are reducing their nuclear stockpile, but countries like India, Pakistan, China, North Korea, and the United Kingdom are believed to be increasing their nuclear warheads.

Of the 12,700 weapons available, 9,400 nuclear warheads are ready for use by missiles, submarines, aircraft, and ships. The rest of the warheads have been retired and they are yet to be dismantled.

According to the report ‘Squandered: 2021 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending,’ published by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the 9 nuclear-armed states spent $82.4 billion on their nuclear weapons, including maintenance, in 2021.

Here’s the list of 9 countries with the most nuclear weapons:

1. Russia owns the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons with a total of 5,977 warheads. Of which, 1,588 nukes are deployed strategically, and the remaining are in storage.

2. The next on the list is the United States as it is in possession of 5,428 nukes.

3. By 2011, China had 240 nuclear weapons, but the number is now increased to 350 as of 2022.

4. France, which first tested its nuclear weapon in 1960, has 290 nuclear warheads, with 280 deployed on launchers.

5. The United Kingdom is in possession of 225 nukes as of 2022.

6. By 2019, Pakistan had 150 nukes, but now they have around 165 warheads.

7. India has the world’s seventh-largest nuclear stockpile with 160 nukes that can be launched from missiles, submarines, and aircraft.

8. Israel has a stockpile of 90 nuclear warheads.

9. North Korea has 20 warheads; however, there is uncertainty over the number of warheads owned by the East Asia country. As per the findings from the 2021 study by the RAND Corporation and the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, North Korea might have had 67 to 116 nukes by 2020, and the number is expected to reach 151 to 242 nukes by 2027.