The United States has finally revealed exactly how many nuclear weapons it has.
As of 30 September 2009, there were 5,113 nuclear warheads in US military arsenals. According to the Department of Defense, this is down 84% from the peak of 31,255 warheads reached in 1967. In addition, “several thousand additional nuclear warheads are retired and awaiting dismantlement” and the US does not count these as part of its stockpile.
“For those who doubt that the United States will do its part on disarmament, this is our record, these are our commitments,” Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, told a UN conference in New York. “And they send a clear, unmistakable message.”
The American administration hopes that its new openness will encourage other countries, notably China, to come clean on their nuke levels.
The actual number of warheads is not surprising. In fact, the Federation of American scientists estimated the current US stockpile to be 5,200 last year.
“For a national secret, we’re pleased that the stockpile number is only 87 warheads off the estimate we made in February 2009. By now, the stockpile is probably down to just above 5,000 warheads,” writes Hans Kristensen on the FAS Strategic Security blog.
“The disclosure is a monumental step toward greater nuclear transparency that breaks with outdated Cold War nuclear secrecy and will put significant pressure on other nuclear weapon states to reciprocate.”
For context, Kristensen notes that China probably has fewer than 200 available warheads, with the UK on a similar number and France controlling under 300. Russia probably weighs in at 4,600.
Image: DoD