Not to scare anyone, but to educate.
Since Putin last week raised the specter of nuclear war, I have been researching the nuclear powers deployment lists. Many are unknown. The key thing to note is, for example, Russia and the USA have HUGE arsenals, but most are not deployed, that is, ready for immediate launch, and in the event that the balloon goes up, there immediate launches are targeting those excess stockpiles, so chances of those being mounted later and fired are pretty slim to none. “Use em or lose em”, as we used to say in the Air Force.
Anyway, here’s the list (some of the data is years old, but all I could find. In the past week, there may have been some changes due to Putin’s declaration):
Nuclear Powers and how much they have versus what’s ready for war...
Russia:
The nation possesses approximately 6,000 nuclear warheads as of 2022—the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. Russia only has 1,625 nuclear weapons in so-called “deployed” status. On February 26, 2022, Russian President has ordered his nuclear forces onto a higher deployment status, so the totality of these “deployed” weapons is probably now higher.
USA:
The USA has 5,550 nuclear weapons, with 1,800 of those warheads mounted atop a missile or within ready access of a nuclear-capable bomber crew. We can launch our roughly 400 land-based nuclear missiles in a matter of a few short minutes. In addition, we have 60 bombers capable of delivering a nuclear payload anywhere in the world, and since hostilities began, we have forward-deployed nuclear-capable B-52 bombers at air bases in the U.K. Our sea-based nuclear missiles – comprising roughly 70% of our nuclear arsenal – are on submarines that are constantly patrolling the world’s oceans.
China:
The best open-source estimates suggest that China now possesses roughly 290 warheads that can be delivered by 180-190 land-based missiles, 48 sea-based ballistic missiles, and bombers. However, in 2022, China appears to be building hundreds of new missile silos. The development raises the prospect that China may be breaking out of its traditional ‘minimum deterrent’ capability. And it raises the question of whether China is edging away from a ‘no first use’ nuclear posture.
France:
On 21 March 2008, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that France will reduce its aircraft deliverable nuclear weapon stockpile (which currently consists of 60 TN 81 warheads) by a third (20 warheads) and bring the total French nuclear arsenal to fewer than 300 warheads. They currently have three sets of 16 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and 54 medium-range air-to-surface missiles.
UK:
The United Kingdom is estimated to possess 225 nuclear weapons, of which 120 are operationally available and only 40 are deployed at a time. All of the deployed warheads are controlled by the Royal Navy, which maintains a continuous at-sea presence via its four Vanguard-class nuclear-powered submarines. This posture ensures a secure second-strike capability in the event of a nuclear attack.
Israel:
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that Israel has approximately 80 intact nuclear weapons, of which 50 are for delivery by Jericho II medium-range ballistic missiles and 30 are gravity bombs for delivery by aircraft. SIPRI also reports that there was renewed speculation in 2012 that Israel may also have developed nuclear-capable submarine-launched cruise missiles.
Pakistan:
In November 2014 it was projected that by 2020 Pakistan would have enough fissile material for 200 warheads. Pakistan appears to have six currently operational nuclear-capable land-based ballistic missiles: the short-range Abdali (Hatf-2), Ghaznavi (Hatf-3), Shaheen-I (Hatf-4), and NASR (Hatf-9), and the medium-range Ghauri (Hatf-5) and Shaheen-II (Hatf-6). Three other nuclear-capable ballistic missiles are under development: the medium-range Shaheen-IA, Shaheen-III, and the MIRVed Ababeel. All of Pakistan’s nuclear-capable missiles––with the exception of the Abdali, Ghauri, Shaheen-II, and Ababeel––were showcased at the Pakistan Day Parade in March 2021. They have also modified three squadron’s of 24 each Mirage fighter jets capable of launching nuclear armed cruise missles. How many are actually ready for immediate deployment is unknown. They are said to be working on their F-16s to provide a similar launch capability.
India:
India has a total of 160 nuclear weapons, but it is unknown how many are deployed on delivery systems at this time. They have vowed to a “No first strike” policy. India has maintained that its nuclear capability was primarily “peaceful”, but between 1988 and 1990 it apparently weaponized two dozen nuclear weapons for delivery by air.
North Korea:
North Korea has a military nuclear weapons program and, as of early 2020, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 30 to 40 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year. How many are actually deployed for launch is unknown.
A few nuclear explosions in DC would not be all bad.