How US nuclear arsenal looks as Washington increases spending (2024)

As nuclear fears deepen with the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russia's references to the possible use of nuclear weapons in the conflict, the U.S., like many other nuclear-armed states, is reevaluating its arsenal.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a Geneva-based pressure group, said earlier this week that every nuclear-armed country increased in 2023 the amount it spent on nuclear weapons.

Currently, nine countries possess nuclear weapons—the U.S., France and the United Kingdom, within NATO, as well as the non-NATO nations Russia, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea.

But the U.S. had the largest nuke spending increase, almost 18 percent—or $51.5 billion—and that is "more than all of the other nuclear-armed states combined," the group said. China came in second with $11.9 billion, followed by the $8.3 billion spent by Russia last year.

The U.S. is deeply concerned over what it has called the "pacing threat" of China, as well as the prospect of facing two "near-peer" nuclear adversaries as Beijing plans to more than double its stockpile of such weapons by 2030.

"This nuclear buildup, coupled with China's broader efforts to modernize its armed forces, has raised serious concerns in Washington," Mattias Eken, an analyst with the European branch of the Rand Corp. think tank, told Newsweek.

And the U.S.'s decisions aren't isolated. It must take into account the defense needs of the allies it has pledged to protect. Many are keen on a broader range of nuclear options in a changing world.

Washington has moved into an expensive phase of its drawn-out, extensive programs for nuclear weapons upgrading, and the surge in investment outlined by ICAN is directly related to this, William Alberque, a visiting fellow with the Stimson Center think tank, told Newsweek.

Separately, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on Monday that several nuclear states had deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems in the past year.

SIPRI said an estimated total of 12,121 nuclear warheads existed across the world as of January, and around 9,585 of these warheads, which are in military stockpiles, could be used. Just over 3,900 of these warheads were deployed with missiles or aircraft, an increase of 60 from the previous year, SIPRI said.

Washington has around 1,200 warheads that it has retired from service and is in the process of dismantling, the institute said.

The U.S., which has the second-largest nuclear weapons stockpile after Russia, had 1,419 warheads deployed as of March 2023, the U.S. government said last year.

Combined, Moscow and Washington control just under 90 percent of the world's total store of nuclear weapons.

Strategic Nuclear Weapons

The U.S.'s nuclear weapons are divided into strategic nuclear weapons, designed to strike a homeland, and nonstrategic nuclear weapons. The term tactical or theater is often used to describe nonstrategic nuclear weapons.

The strategic nuclear weapons, which are more destructive and designed to take out larger areas, form what is known as the U.S.'s nuclear triad of land-based, sea-based and air-based missiles.

Nuclear weapons go through life cycles, meaning they have to be upgraded at a certain point. Many have already been extended, and the U.S. strategic nuclear weapons are now all slated for major overhauls in the next decade.

On land, up to 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, can be launched from silos in five U.S. states. The U.S. is replacing its aged Minuteman III missiles with the Sentinel, completing a large-scale renovation of the ground-based leg of the triad.

The sea-based leg, currently fulfilled by the Navy's Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, is being upgraded in favor of the forthcoming Columbia-class vessels, expected to come into service around 2030. Each Ohio-class submarine can carry up to 20 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles, which each have several independently targeted nuclear warheads.

The U.S. also has an airpower leg, made up of 46 B-52H Stratofortress aircraft and 20 B-2A Spirit aircraft that can carry nuclear weapons. The B-21 Raider stealth aircraft will replace the B-2A in the next few years.

These modernization programs are "pushing up costs," Eken said. The Sentinel is turning out to be far more expensive than originally expected, and the Columbia-class program is anticipated to take up around 30 percent of the Navy's shipbuilding budget under next year's plans, he said.

The New START treaty, which will expire in February 2026, caps the number of operational nuclear warheads on deployed ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), as well as deployed nuclear-capable heavy bombers, at 1,550.

The treaty also limits to 700 the number of deployed ICBMs, SLBMs and deployed nuclear-capable heavy bombers. A maximum of 800 ICBM and SLBM launchers and heavy bombers able to carry nuclear weapons are allowed under the agreement.

Russia suspended its participation in the New START Treaty in February 2023.

Tactical, or Nonstrategic, Nuclear Weapons

As well as its strategic nuclear weapons, the U.S. has a nonstrategic nuclear weapons stockpile not covered under the New START Treaty.

The non-tactical weapons include around 100 B-61 nuclear gravity bombs, based at six NATO facilities across Italy, Germany, Belgium, Turkey and the Netherlands. More than 100 of these bombs also exist but are in storage away from these bases.

Dual-capable aircraft, like F-15, F-16 and PA-200 fighter jets, are able to deliver both conventional munitions and these nonstrategic nuclear weapons. The F-35 fighter jet, which is replacing F-16s in many European air forces, has been certified to carry the B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bomb, an upgraded version of the B61.

The bombs in Europe are the U.S.'s last remaining tactical nuclear weapon, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Nukes and NATO

The U.S.'s nuclear weapons, and the commitment to deploying them in case another NATO country is attacked, underpin NATO, which is commonly referred to as the "nuclear alliance."

Along with China's buildup, the war in Ukraine, the largest land war in Europe since World War II, has drawn attention back to nuclear weapons. Several high-profile Russian officials and state media broadcasts have alluded to the possibility of nuclear war, and Russia has said it has transferred a number of its tactical nuclear weapons to key ally Belarus. Belarus borders three NATO states on the alliance's eastern flank, as well as Ukraine.

Increasingly, the U.S.'s tactical nuclear weapons stockpile, which it has been cutting as part of commitments to disarmament, is coming under scrutiny as the U.S. allies reliant on Washington's arsenal for their security adapt to a changing world. For the moment, Alberque said, the U.S. is largely replacing its existing nonstrategic nuclear weapons rather than expanding the stockpile.

But in recent years, discussions have focused on which weapons can reassure Washington's allies.

The U.S. had previously retired a nuclear-armed submarine-launched cruise missile, known as SLCM-N, but it was resurrected by the Trump administration in 2018, and, despite resistance in the Biden administration, it is favored by Congress. It is also popular with U.S. allies, particularly in Asia, Alberque said.

The Pentagon said in October 2023 that it would seek Congress' approval for a new version of the B-61 bomb, the B61-13. Again, this is intended for a nonstrategic nuclear capability.

The Trump administration recommended a low-yield version of the W76 nuclear warhead, the W76-2, which is operational in the Navy.

Attitudes seem to be changing among Europe's NATO members. In a move that angered Russia, NATO member Poland said it was ready to host U.S. nuclear weapons as part of the alliance's nuclear-sharing policy. No decision has been publicly announced by the alliance on this.

Earlier this week, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told Britain's Daily Telegraph that the alliance was in talks about how many nuclear warheads "should be operational and which should be stored."

NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah, referring to the comments, said the alliance was "committed to ensuring a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent."

She added: "For that purpose, we have an ongoing modernization program to replace legacy weapons and aircraft. Beyond that, there are no significant changes to our nuclear deterrent."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the NATO secretary-general's remarks "nothing but another escalation of tension."

A senior White House official signaled earlier this month that the U.S. "may reach a point in the coming years where an increase from current deployed numbers is required."

"We need to be fully prepared to execute if the president makes that decision," said Pranay Vaddi, a senior National Security Council arms control official. "If that day comes, it will result in a determination that more nuclear weapons are required to deter our adversaries and protect the American people and our allies and partners."

The U.S. disarmament trend is likely to become more politically toxic in the coming years as it contends with reassuring its allies, Alberque said.

In a world where Russia has said it has nearly entirely modernized its nuclear arsenal—and China is rushing to build up its own—it is a tough sell to U.S. allies to continue cutting down its stockpiles of nuclear weapons, he said.