Enduring Stockpile

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The Enduring Stockpile is the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons following the end of the Cold War. As of 2025, it comprises 3,708 nuclear weapons.

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During the Cold War the United States produced over 70,000 nuclear weapons. By its end, the U.S. stockpile was about 23,000 weapons of 26 different types. The production of nuclear weapons ended in 1989, and since then existing weapons have been retired, dismantled, or mothballed. In 2021, the Department of Energy website stated the stockpile was the lowest it had been since 1960. [1]

Weapons in the Enduring Stockpile are categorized by level of readiness. The three levels are:

US Enduring Stockpile, 2004–present
Type20042025 [2]
ICBM1,490800
SLBM2,7361,920
Bomber1,660788
Total strategic5,8863,508
Total tactical1,120200
Total stockpile7,0063,708
Retired~3,0001,336

As of 2025, the most common warhead in the nuclear arsenal is the W76, installed on the majority of UGM-133 Trident II SLBMs. The only weapon capable of exceeding a 500 kiloton yield is the B83 gravity bomb, delivered by the B-2 Spirit. [2] All are thermonuclear weapons, but the vast majority of weapons derive over 80% of their yield from fission of the primary and tamper, greatly increasing fallout. [3]

Bomber weapons include strategic B61 and B83 gravity bombs, AGM-86 ALCM and several hundred spare warheads. The tactical weapons consist of 800 tactical B61 gravity bombs and 320 nuclear warheads for Tomahawk missiles.

The START II Treaty called for a reduction to a total of 3,500 to 3,000 warheads, but was not ratified by the Russian Duma. The replacement 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty delayed reductions to 2012, with a limit of 2,200 operationally deployed warheads. The New START treaty signed in 2010 commits to lowering that limit to 1,550 warheads, and was ratified by the Russian Duma on 26 January 2011.

See also

References

  1. "Maintaining the Stockpile".
  2. 1 2 Kristensen, Hans M.; Korda, Matt; Johns, Eliana; Knight, Mackenzie (2024-05-03). "United States nuclear weapons, 2024". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 80 (3): 182–208. doi: 10.1080/00963402.2024.2339170 . ISSN   0096-3402 . Retrieved 2025-04-06.
  3. Grams, Jon (2021-06-06). "Ripple: An Investigation of the World's Most Advanced High-Yield Thermonuclear Weapon Design". Journal of Cold War Studies. 23 (2). The MIT Press: 133–161. ISSN   1531-3298 . Retrieved 2025-04-06.