What America's nuclear arsenal looks like as Washington increases spending

As nuclear fears heighten with the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russian references to the possible use of nuclear weapons in the conflict, the United States, like many other nuclear-armed states, is reassessing their arsenal.

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

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

But the United States saw the largest increase in nuclear spending, by almost 18 percent, or $51.5 billion, and that's “more than all other nuclear-armed states combined.” the group said. China comes in second with $11.9 billion, followed by Russia's $8.3 billion spent last year.

The United States is deeply concerned about what it calls the “growing threat” from China, as well as the prospect of facing two “near-equal” nuclear adversaries as Beijing plans to more than double its nuclear stockpile. weapons of this type by 2030.

“This nuclear buildup, coupled with China's broader efforts to modernize its armed forces, has raised serious concerns in Washington,” said Mattias Eken, an analyst at the European arm of the Rand Corp think tank. News week.

And American decisions are not isolated. It must take into account the defense needs of the allies it is committed to protecting. Many want a wider range of nuclear options in a changing world.

Washington has entered a costly phase of its extensive and drawn-out nuclear weapons modernization programs, and the increased investments described by ICAN are directly related to that, said William Alberque, a visiting fellow at the Stimson Center think tank. News week.

Separately, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said Monday that several nuclear states have deployed new nuclear or nuclear-capable weapons systems over the past year.

SIPRI said there were a total of about 12,121 nuclear warheads in the world as of January, and about 9,585 of those 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 about 1,200 nuclear warheads that it has removed from service and is in the process of dismantling, the institute said.

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

Together, Moscow and Washington control nearly 90 percent of the world's total nuclear weapons stockpile.

Strategic nuclear weapons

US nuclear weapons are divided into strategic nuclear weapons, designed to strike a country, and non-strategic nuclear weapons. The term tactical Or theater is often used to describe non-strategic nuclear weapons.

Strategic nuclear weapons, which are more destructive and designed to destroy larger areas, form what is known as the US nuclear triad consisting of land, sea and air missiles.

Nuclear weapons go through life cycles, meaning they must be improved at some point. Many have already been expanded, and America's strategic nuclear weapons are all expected to undergo major overhauls over the next decade.

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

The maritime portion, currently provided by the Navy's Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, is being modernized in favor of the upcoming Columbia-class ships, which are expected to enter service around 2030. Each class submarine Ohio can carry up to 20 Tridents. II D5 ballistic missiles, each with several independently targeted nuclear warheads.

The United States also has an air force consisting of 46 B-52H Stratofortress aircraft and 20 B-2A Spirit aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The B-21 Raider stealth aircraft will replace the B-2A in the coming years.

These modernization programs “drive up costs,” Eken said. The Sentinel is turning out to be much more expensive than initially expected, and the Columbia-class program is expected to absorb about 30 percent of the Navy's shipbuilding budget under next year's plans, he said.

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

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

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

Tactical or non-strategic nuclear weapons

In addition to its strategic nuclear weapons, the United States has a stockpile of non-strategic nuclear weapons not covered by the New START Treaty.

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

Dual-capable aircraft, such as the F-15, F-16 and PA-200 fighter jets, are capable of dropping both conventional munitions and non-strategic nuclear weapons. The F-35 fighter jet, which is replacing the 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 United States' latest tactical nuclear weapon, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Nuclear weapons and NATO

The United States' nuclear weapons and its commitment to deploy them in the event of an attack by another NATO country support NATO, commonly referred to as the “nuclear alliance.”

Along with China's strengthening, the war in Ukraine, the largest land war in Europe since World War II, has focused renewed attention on nuclear weapons. Several senior Russian officials and state media have hinted at the possibility of nuclear war, and Russia has said it has transferred a number of its tactical nuclear weapons to its key ally Belarus. Belarus borders three NATO states on the alliance's eastern flank, as well as Ukraine.

Increasingly, the United States' stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons, which it has reduced as part of its disarmament commitments, is under scrutiny as U.S. allies, who rely on Washington's arsenal for their security, adapt to a changing world. For now, Alberque said, the United States is largely replacing its existing non-strategic nuclear weapons rather than increasing its stockpiles.

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

The United States previously retired a nuclear submarine-launched cruise missile, known as SLCM-N, but it was resurrected by the Trump administration in 2018 and, despite resistance from the Biden administration , he 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 congressional approval for a new version of the B-61 bomb, the B61-13. Again, this is aimed at a non-strategic nuclear capability.

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

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

Earlier this week, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told the U.K. Today's telegraph that the alliance was in talks over how many nuclear warheads “should be operational and which should be stockpiled.”

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

She added: “To this end, we have an ongoing modernization program to replace existing weapons and aircraft. Beyond that, there are no significant changes to our nuclear deterrent.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the NATO secretary general's remarks “nothing but a further escalation of tension.”

A senior White House official signaled earlier this month that the United States “may reach a point in the coming years where an increase over currently deployed troops would be necessary.”

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

The U.S. drive toward disarmament risks becoming more politically toxic in coming years as it works to reassure its allies, Alberque said.

In a world where Russia claims to have almost completely modernized its nuclear arsenal – and where China is racing to build its own – it is difficult to convince US allies to continue reducing their nuclear weapons stockpiles, he said. he declares.