![]() The Biden administration’s declassification also revealed that the pace of warhead dismantlement has slowed significantly in recent years. We estimate that the stockpile will continue to decline over the next decade-and-a-half as modernization programs consolidate the remaining warheads. This effort revealed that the United States’ nuclear stockpile consisted of 3,750 warheads in September 2020 - only 72 warheads fewer than the last number made available in September 2017 before the Trump administration reduced the US government’s transparency efforts (US State Department 2021a). In 2021, the Biden administration restored the United States’ previous transparency levels by declassifying both numbers for the entire history of the US nuclear arsenal until September 2020 - including the missing years of the Trump administration. Between 20, the US government publicly disclosed the size of the nuclear weapons stockpile however, in 20, the Trump administration rejected requests from the Federation of American Scientists to declassify the latest stockpile numbers (Aftergood 2019 Kristensen 2019a, 2020d). In addition to the warheads in the Department of Defense stockpile, approximately 1,536 retired - but still intact - warheads are stored under the custody of the Department of Energy and are awaiting dismantlement, giving a total US inventory of an estimated 5,244 warheads. Several hundred of those warheads are scheduled to be retired before 2030. The remaining warheads - approximately 1,938 - are in storage as a so-called hedge against technical or geopolitical surprises. An additional 100 tactical bombs are deployed at air bases in Europe. We estimate that approximately 1,770 warheads are currently deployed, of which roughly 1,370 strategic warheads are deployed on ballistic missiles and another 300 at strategic bomber bases in the United States. Most of the warheads in the stockpile are not deployed but rather stored for potential upload onto missiles and aircraft as necessary. Īt the beginning of 2023, the US Department of Defense maintained an estimated stockpile of approximately 3,708 nuclear warheads for delivery by ballistic missiles and aircraft. To see all previous Nuclear Notebook columns, go to. Kristensen & Matt Korda, The long view: Strategic arms control after the New START Treaty, 2022, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 79:1, 28-52, DOI: To cite this article, please use the following citation, adapted to the appropriate citation style: Hans M. This article is freely available in PDF format in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ digital magazine (published by Taylor & Francis) at this link. Of the approximately 1,770 warheads that are deployed, 400 are on land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, roughly 970 are on submarine-launched ballistic missiles, 300 are at bomber bases in the United States, and 100 tactical bombs are at European bases. Additionally, approximately 1,536 retired warheads are awaiting dismantlement, giving a total inventory of approximately 5,244 nuclear warheads. Of these, only about 1,770 warheads are deployed, while approximately 1,938 are held in reserve. The US nuclear arsenal remained roughly unchanged in the last year, with the Department of Defense maintaining an estimated stockpile of approximately 3,708 warheads. This issue examines the status of the US nuclear arsenal. The Nuclear Notebook column has been published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists since 1987. Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project with the Federation of American Scientists, and Matt Korda, a senior research associate with the project. The Nuclear Notebook is researched and written by Hans M.
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