In February 2026, the United States and Israel struck Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. In Pyongyang, ballistic missile tests continue. In Moscow, warnings about a readiness to use nuclear weapons are heard with regularity. The issue has ceased to be an abstraction—it is once again shaping the structure of world politics. Here is who has what—and why.
9
states with nuclear weapons
~12 100
warheads worldwide in total
~3 900
warheads in operational readiness
2
instances of wartime use—Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945
Most people know that nuclear weapons exist and that their use would mean catastrophe. But few understand exactly who possesses them, how many warheads each country has, whom they are aimed at, and who may acquire them in the coming years. This piece addresses precisely those questions—without sensation, and with concrete data.
Who Has How Much
Russia and the United States account for roughly 90% of the world’s entire nuclear arsenal. The other seven powers belong to a different league in terms of numbers, though still one large enough to destroy major cities.
Total Number of Warheads (2025 Estimate)
deployed (on active duty)
in reserve / in storage
🇷🇺 Russia
5 580
🇺🇸 United States
5 044
🇨🇳 China
~500
🇫🇷 France
290
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
225
🇵🇰 Pakistan
~170
🇮🇳 India
~164
🇮🇱 Israel
~90 (?)
🇰🇵 North Korea
~50 (?)
Sources: SIPRI Yearbook 2025, Federation of American Scientists (FAS), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The lighter band within each bar indicates deployed warheads.
Nine States That Changed the World Order
Each of the nine nuclear powers has its own doctrine, its own history, and its own motives. They are not the same.
🇺🇸
United States
Warheads~5 044
Deployed~1 700
First Test1945
NPT✓ Signed
The first nuclear power in history. The only country ever to have used nuclear weapons in combat. Its doctrine rests on “extended deterrence”—the protection of allies under a nuclear umbrella. Weapons are stationed in six NATO countries.
🇷🇺
Russia
Warheads~5 580
Deployed~1 558
First Test1949
NPT✓ Signed
The world’s largest nuclear arsenal. In 2023, it suspended participation in the New START treaty. Its doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a “threat to the existence of the state.”
🇨🇳
China
Warheads~500
Deployedstored separately
First Test1964
NPT✓ Signed
The fastest-growing arsenal of any nuclear power. By 2035, the Pentagon projects more than 1,500 warheads. Its official doctrine is “no first use.”
🇫🇷
France
Warheads~290
Deployed~280
First Test1960
NPT✓ Signed
The European Union’s only nuclear power. Its doctrine emphasizes “strategic autonomy”—independence from the American umbrella. In 2024, Emmanuel Macron raised the question of a “European nuclear shield.”
🇬🇧
United Kingdom
Warheads~225
Deployed~120
First Test1952
NPT✓ Signed
An exclusively sea-based deterrent—Trident missiles on Vanguard-class submarines. In 2021, it announced plans to expand its arsenal to 260 warheads, citing a changed threat environment.
🇵🇰
Pakistan
Warheads~170
Deployedno data
First Test1998
NPT✗ Not Signed
Built nuclear weapons in response to India. It explicitly rejects the principle of no first use. Western intelligence services regard Pakistan’s arsenal as the one most vulnerable to falling under the control of non-state actors.
🇮🇳
India
Warheads~164
First Test1974
NPT✗ Not Signed
Its 1974 “peaceful nuclear explosion” was the first test outside the P5. Its official doctrine is “no first use.” Its principal strategic adversary is Pakistan—but increasingly, China as well.
🇮🇱
Israel
Warheads~90 (?)
Official Statusnot confirmed
NPT✗ Not Signed
Its official policy is “nuclear ambiguity”: the country neither confirms nor denies possessing such weapons. It is the Middle East’s only nuclear power, tacitly acknowledged by Western governments.
🇰🇵
North Korea
Warheads~50 (?)
ICBMHwasong-17/18
First Test2006
NPTwithdrew in 2003
The only country ever to leave the NPT and build a bomb. In 2022, it enshrined its nuclear status in the constitution as “irreversible.” The Hwasong-17 missile can theoretically reach any point in the United States.
“We are moving toward the most dangerous nuclear moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962—and perhaps an even more dangerous one”
William Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
William Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
How the World Became Nuclear
The nuclear club took shape amid an arms race, espionage, technological theft, and regional fear. The current balance cannot be understood without this chronology.
1945
United States—“Trinity,” Hiroshima, Nagasaki
The first nuclear weapons test took place on July 16 in New Mexico. On August 6 and 9, atomic bombs were dropped on Japanese cities. Between 129,000 and 226,000 people were killed. The world changed irreversibly.
1949
USSR—“First Lightning”
The Soviet Union tested its own bomb four years earlier than Washington had expected. Intelligence networks operating inside the Manhattan Project gave the USSR critical technical details.
1952–1960
The United Kingdom and France join the club
Britain tested its bomb off the coast of Australia. France did so in the Algerian Sahara, while still a colonial power. Both sought to preserve great-power status in a bipolar world.
1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis—the closest brush with World War III
Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, an American naval blockade. Thirteen days on the brink. It was resolved through a secret exchange: the USSR removed missiles from Cuba, and the United States removed theirs from Turkey.
1964
China—“596,” Xinjiang
Mao Zedong declared a principle of no first use. The program began with Soviet assistance, which was cut off after the Sino-Soviet split in the late 1950s.
1968
NPT—The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
191 states signed the document, which recognized five official nuclear powers (the P5) and obliged all others not to build nuclear weapons. India, Pakistan, and Israel never signed.
1991–1994
Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan—giving up the bomb
Three post-Soviet republics inherited thousands of Soviet warheads. Under the Budapest Memorandum, they transferred them to Russia in exchange for guarantees of sovereignty. Ukraine gave up the world’s third-largest arsenal—a decision that, since 2022, has become central to global debate.
1998
India and Pakistan—an open nuclear confrontation
India carried out the Pokhran-II series of tests. Pakistan responded within weeks. South Asia became the first region where two neighboring states openly crossed into nuclear status. Both remain in an unresolved conflict over Kashmir to this day.
2003–2006
North Korea leaves the NPT and tests a bomb
North Korea is the only country ever to have formally withdrawn from the NPT. In 2006, it conducted its first test, followed by five more. In 2022, it enshrined its nuclear status in the constitution as “irreversible.”
2025–2026
Iran’s nuclear program comes under attack
Israel and the United States struck Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in Operations Rising Lion and Epic Fury. The fate of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium remains unknown. The next chapter of the nuclear age depends on it.
Who Could Acquire Nuclear Weapons
Among states without nuclear weapons, there are several categories: countries with the technical capacity, countries that have declared such intentions publicly, and those that have come close to that line in the past.
Who Could Acquire Nuclear Weapons
Country
Status
Probability
Key Factor
🇮🇷 Iran
Program under attack, status of uranium stockpiles unknown
High
Before the 2026 strikes, it had hundreds of kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%. The political decision now rests with the new leadership
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
Intentions publicly declared
High*
MBS: “If Iran gets a bomb—we will too.” Nuclear program backed by China. It has the money, but not yet the technology
🇰🇷 South Korea
Has the technical potential, but not the political will
Medium
Capable of building a weapon within 1–2 years. If the United States were to leave the alliance, the situation would change dramatically
🇯🇵 Japan
Powerful dual-use potential
Low
The only country to have suffered nuclear attacks. Constitutional pacifism. Technically capable of building a weapon quickly
🇹🇷 Turkey
Testing the waters rhetorically
Low
Erdogan in 2019: Turkey “should not be denied nuclear weapons.” A NATO member, it hosts American B61 warheads
Rules of Use: Each Country Has Its Own
Nuclear deterrence works only if the adversary believes there is a willingness to use the weapon. That is why every power formulates its own doctrine of use—and those formulations matter fundamentally.
Nuclear Doctrines
Country
Doctrine
Essence
🇺🇸 United States
“Strategic ambiguity”
It does not rule out first use, but leaves the conditions unspecified. It extends a “nuclear umbrella” over allies. In theory, it could use nuclear weapons to defend Israel, Japan, or South Korea.
🇷🇺 Russia
“Escalate to de-escalate”
Its 2020 doctrine allows use in the event of a “threat to the existence of the state”—including from a non-nuclear strike. Since 2022, it has actively used nuclear rhetoric as an instrument of pressure on the West.
🇨🇳 China
“No first use”
Officially, it is the most restrictive doctrine. Missiles are stored separately from warheads. Some analysts believe the doctrine could be revised as the arsenal expands.
🇵🇰 Pakistan
“Full-spectrum deterrence”
It explicitly rejects no first use. It is developing low-yield tactical nuclear weapons for battlefield use—to offset India’s superiority in conventional arms.
🇰🇵 North Korea
“Preemptive strike”
A 2022 law explicitly provides for the right to launch a preemptive strike if the regime is threatened. Nuclear weapons are Kim Jong Un’s chief insurance against the fate of Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi.
What This Means in 2026
The nuclear world order forged during the Cold War is fraying—but not collapsing. Five trends define the nuclear landscape right now.
Arms control is dead—and it is still unclear what will replace it
The United States withdrew from the INF Treaty in 2019. Russia suspended participation in New START in 2023. The Open Skies Treaty is gone. The architecture of agreements that restrained the nuclear arms race for half a century has, in effect, been dismantled. No new framework exists.
China is changing the balance faster than expected
In 2020, China had about 200 warheads. Now it has about 500. By 2035, the Pentagon projects more than 1,500. This is creating a three-way nuclear dynamic for the first time—the United States, Russia, and China. All previous treaties were built on a bilateral logic.
America’s nuclear umbrella is being called into question
Under the Trump administration, allies in Europe and Asia for the first time seriously began asking whether American guarantees can be relied upon. That is what pushed Germany toward discussing a French nuclear shield—and 70% of South Koreans toward supporting the creation of their own weapon.
The Middle East is the new nuclear flashpoint
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey warned that if Iran gets a weapon—they too will begin seeking one of their own. The strikes of 2026 did not remove that threat; they merely reframed the question.
Nuclear rhetoric has become routine—and that is dangerous in itself
When Putin speaks about nuclear weapons, markets now react less sharply than they did in 2022. That “normalization” is not a sign of stability. It is a dulling of the response to a signal that ought to remain the gravest of all possible warnings.
Nuclear weapons preserve peace among the great powers—while at the same time making any direct conflict between them potentially fatal for civilization. That logic has held for 80 years. But it requires all sides to remain rational, informed, and not feel cornered. Today, those three conditions are under pressure at once.