World nuclear forces

In: SIPRI yearbook: armaments, disarmament and international security

Abstract

At the start of 2012, eight states possessed approximately 4400 operational nuclear weapons. Nearly 2000 of these are kept in a state of high operational alert. If all nuclear warheads are counted -- operational warheads, spares, those in both active and inactive storage, and intact warheads scheduled for dismantlement -- the USA, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan and Israel together possess a total of approximately 19 000 nuclear weapons. The availability of reliable information about the nuclear weapon states' arsenals varies considerably. France, the UK and the USA have recently disclosed important information about their nuclear capabilities. In contrast, transparency in Russia has decreased as a result of its decision not to publicly release detailed data about its strategic nuclear forces under the 2010 Russia-USA New START treaty, even though it shares the information with the USA. China remains highly non-transparent as part of its long-standing deterrence strategy, and little information is publicly available about its nuclear forces and weapon production complex. Reliable information on the operational status of the nuclear arsenals and capabilities of the three states that have never been party to the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) -- India, Israel and Pakistan -- is especially difficult to find. In the absence of official declarations, the publicly available information is often contradictory or incorrect. Adapted from the source document.