The threat of nuclear war is looming large over the world.
For the first time since the Cold War ended, the threat of World War III has never seemed quite so real.
With the Doomsday Clock stuck at a terrifying 90 seconds to midnight, and with the US claiming Vladimir Putin is preparing to launch a nuclear weapon into space, tensions are running high.
Nuclear warheads are stockpiled by a select number of countries as a deterrent. It’s hoped the concept of ‘mutually-assured destruction’ will be enough to stop anyone from ever actually using such weapons.
But which countries have nuclear weapons, and how many? Metro.co.uk has the answers.
Number of estimated warheads: 30
There are nine countries on earth which have formally declared they possess nuclear armament.
It’s thought North Korea has 30 warheads but the material to make double that if desired.
Number of estimated warheads: 90
It’s thought that Israel is capable of delivering nuclear bombs by air, as cruise missiles fired from submarines and through the Jericho line of ballistic missiles (that have intermediate to intercontinental range).
Israel has been in possession of nuclear weapons since the 1960s, but it has never formally acknowledged the existence of its nuclear programme, adhering to a policy of nuclear secrecy.
As such, the true scale of its nuclear programme is largely unknown.
Number of estimated warheads: 165
With their stockpile of nuclear weaponry at its largest ever, India’s programmes isn’t designed to help them fight nations from the other side of the world, like many other countries on this list.
They have amassed nukes as a means to defend themselves during conflicts with neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and China.
Number of estimated warheads: 170
With a similar nuclear capacity as its neighbour and rival India, Pakistan sees nuclear weapons as essential to maintaining national security, mainly to offset India’s military might.
Following the war with India in 1971, Pakistan made great strides towards producing uranium enrichment and plutonium for use in weapons.
This marked the beginning of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons history.
Number of estimated warheads: 225
The UK has the fifth highest number of nuclear warheads of all 195 nations on earth – although, as we’ve said, only nine are formally declared to have any at all.
HM Naval Base Clyde in western Scotland is home to the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent, while the submarines they would be fired from are based at Faslane.
Number of estimated warheads: 300
The planet’s fourth-biggest stockpiler of weapons of mass destruction is France.
Despite being a friendly nation involved in very few disputes or potential wars, the French have 300 nuclear warheads – all of which are deployed and ready to be fired.
France have, however, scaled back their nuclear arsenal by 50% since the end of the Cold War.
Number of estimated warheads: 500
It will comes as no shock to anyone to discover the identity of the top three in this list. That said, the order of ranking and specific numbers might surprise some.
In third, with 500 warheads is the People’s Republic of China. The Pentagon have said they expect this number to rise to 1000 warheads by 2030.
Number of estimated warheads: 5,000
Ahead of China, by some margin, is the United States. With around 5,000 nukes, they’re not far off top spot here in this grim countdown.
That may sound like a lot of nuclear warheads, but at its peak back in 1967, the US had over 32,000 warheads in its extensive arsenal.
It currently has just shy of 2,000 deployed and able to be fired in the event of war.
Number of estimated warheads: 6,000
The country to have built and stockpiled the largest number of nukes is, unsurprisingly, Russia.
Historically, Russia has always looked to nuclear arms as its final threat and sought to keep an arsenal comparable – or superior – to that of the United States.
More than 1,600 of the 6,000 that the have are deployed and ready to be fired if called upon.
Number of estimated warheads: Unknown
We end our round-up with a country which has an unknown nuclear capacity.
Iran is transparent about having a nuclear programme but insists that it has developed no warheads and has no plans to.
This is not something which has convinced all of the world’s different intelligence services.
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