New Delhi: For the first time in decades, the world’s most powerful nuclear nations are operating without any formal cap on how many warheads they can deploy. With no binding limits in place, let’s know which countries have nuclear weapons and how many do they possess?
Present estimates show that nuclear firepower is concentrated in the hands of a small group of states. According to widely cited assessments by the Federation of American Scientists, the world has roughly 12,000 to 12,300 nuclear warheads. The United States and Russia alone possess around 10,636 of them.
With close to 5,800 warheads, Russia is believed to possess the world’s largest nuclear arsenal. This number includes deployed weapons, reserves and those awaiting dismantlement.
The United States follows with an estimated 5,200 to 5,400 warheads, which are spread across land-based missiles, strategic bombers and submarine platforms. Together, these two nations control nearly 90 percent of all nuclear weapons on the planet.
China holds the third-largest arsenal. Its stockpile has expanded in recent years and is now estimated at around 600 nuclear warheads. Beijing’s nuclear modernisation includes new missile silos and long-range delivery systems.
France maintains an independent deterrent with roughly 290 nuclear weapons. Most of them are deployed at sea and in air-launched systems. The United Kingdom has around 225 nuclear weapons and most of them are deployed on submarines for constant deterrence.
In South Asia, India and Pakistan continue to maintain closely matched nuclear capabilities. New Delhi is estimated to possess around 170 to 180 warheads, supported by land, air and sea delivery platforms. Pakistan’s stockpile is assessed at roughly 165 to 170 weapons, with a focus on battlefield and short-range deterrence systems.
Israel has never officially confirmed its nuclear capability, but long-standing international assessments place its arsenal at about 90 warheads. Its programme is one of the world’s most guarded strategic secrets.
North Korea rounds out the list of nuclear-armed states. Though its arsenal is smaller, it has grown through weapons testing and missile development. Present estimates suggest Pyongyang holds around 40 to 50 nuclear devices, with ongoing work on delivery systems capable of reaching distant targets.
Better known as New START, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limited the nuclear weapons of the United States and Russia, expired on February 5, 2026. But this has not changed these numbers overnight. It has altered the strategic environment in which they exist. Without formal caps, future expansions, modernisation drives and deployment changes now rest entirely on national decisions.
As global tensions ebb and flow across regions, the distribution of nuclear weapons and the absence of binding ceilings ensure that the world’s most destructive arsenals are central to geopolitical power calculations.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
