That Russia is the country in the world with the most nuclear weapons, followed by the US and China, is not open to discussion. But when talking about nuclear arsenal what do you have Russia it is always necessary to start from the basis of the difficulty of establishing resounding figures due to the lack of transparency the russian government. In any case, renowned independent institutes such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)for its acronym in English) claim to be able to formulate a reasonable assessment of the modernization of nuclear Russia through the examination of satellite images and other forms of intelligence as well as official statements, industry publications, and interviews with military officials. This is the current russian arsenal, according to the prestigious Danish institution. We start from the distinction between strategic nuclear weaponsdesigned to be used for targets that are part of a strategic plan, such as nuclear missile sites, military command centers, and large cities and not strategic -use on the battlefield in support of conventional weapons-.
Almost 4,500 military warheads
As of January 2021, Russia held a military armory of approximately 4,495 nuclear warheads. About 2,585 of them were strategic offensive warheadsof which some 1,625 were deployed in land and sea ballistic missiles and in bomber bases. Russia also possessed approximately 1,910 non-strategic nuclear warheads (tactical), which is a slight increase from the estimate for January 2020. All non-strategic warheads are estimated to be in central storage and another 1,760 retired warheads are awaiting dismantling, giving a a total inventory of approximately 6,255 warheads.
Russia complies with the New START Treaty
In 2020, Russia continued to meet the final warhead limits prescribed by the 2010 Russo-American treaty on measures for a further reduction and limitation of strategic offensive weapons (New START), according to the Swedish institute SIPRI. This treaty limits the number of strategic nuclear forces deployed by Russia and the United States.
strategic nuclear forces
In January 2021, Russia had some 2,585 warheads allocated for potential use by strategic launchers: long range bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) land based and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). This figure represents an increase of approximately 145 warheads compared to January 2020.
air-dropped nuclear weapons
With regard to aircraft and air-dropped weapons, the Russian Long-Range Aviation Command operates a fleet of approximately 13 Tu-160 (Blackjack) and 55 Tu-95MS (Bear) bombers. The maximum possible load on the bombers is almost 740 nuclear weapons but, as only a fraction of the bombers are fully operational, the number of assigned weapons is estimated to be lower, around 580. SIPRI estimates that approximately 200 of them could be deployed and stored in the two strategic bomber bases: engels in the province of Saratov and Ukraine on Amur.
Land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles
In January 2021, the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF) -the branch of the armed forces that controls the intercontinental ballistic missiles– They had 11 missile divisions grouped into 3 Armies that deployed an estimated number of 310 ICBMs of different types. These missiles can carry a
maximum of about 1,189 warheads, but SIPRI estimates that they have unloaded to carry about 800 warheads to keep Russia below the New START limit for deployed strategic warheads. These warheads account for about half of the 1,625 strategic warheads deployed by Russia. The Russian intercontinental ballistic missile force is in full modernization process to replace all Soviet-era missiles with new types.
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sea-based nuclear missiles
In January 2021, the Russian Navy had one fleet of 11 nuclear ballistic submarines (SSBN, for its acronym in English). Each SSBN can be equipped with 16 ballistic missiles and the Russian fleet can carry a total of 816 warheads. Is
the warhead load of some missiles may have been reduced to meet the total warhead limit of the New START. As a result, it is estimated that only about 624 of the 816 warheads are deployed.
The Russian Navy is also developing the Poseidon or Status-6 (Kanyon)a long range strategic torpedo from nuclear propulsion. The torpedo is intended for future deployment on two new types of special-use submarines.
Non-strategic nuclear weapons
In January 2021, Russia had some 1,910 warheads assigned to para potential use of non-strategic forcesa slight increase of about 35 warheads from the beginning of 2020. Russia’s non-strategic nuclear weapons – most of which are dual-capable, meaning they can also be armed with conventional warheads – are intended for use by ships and submarines, aircraft, air and missile defense systems, and Army missiles.