For the first time since 2021, the State Department has declassified the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Armed Forces inventory, updating the figures revealed years ago in an effort to enhance transparency for non-proliferation and disarmament of these weapons of mass destruction. The most recent information was published by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which oversees the status and inventory of these weapons in U.S. possession.
The most notable figure is the total number of nuclear warheads in the U.S. inventory, which stands at 3,748 as of September 2023. According to the NNSA, the inventory includes both active and inactive strategic and non-strategic (tactical) warheads. Active warheads are those considered operational and ready for use, along with their logistical spares and capabilities, while inactive warheads are stored in a non-operational state. The inventory does not include retired warheads, which are considered non-functional, or dismantled warheads, which have already been broken down into their component parts.
Examining the inventory numbers in more detail, the NNSA compares the 3,748 warheads listed as of last September with the peak level of 31,255 warheads reached in 1967, one of the critical points of the Cold War. The most recent figure represents an 88% reduction since 1967 and an 83% decrease since 1989. This achievement has been made through the dismantling of non-strategic, i.e., tactical nuclear weapons, whose number has been reduced by more than 90% since 1991.
Overall, the numbers provide a useful indication of how the inventory size has remained relatively stable over the past seven years. Within that timeframe, changes in the total have not been driven by policy changes but by the normal movements of warheads in and out of the inventory due to maintenance work and life extension efforts.
The report also reveals that last year, the United States dismantled only 69 retired nuclear warheads, the lowest number since 1994. Because the dismantlement rate has decreased, the mentioned number of warheads awaiting dismantlement, approximately 2,000, is high, at least compared to previous years.
Lastly, broader concerns about the future of nuclear arms control agreements have been growing in recent years. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the United States and Russia, which despite its name covered various types of nuclear and conventional missiles, collapsed in 2019, and the Kremlin suspended its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Washington last year. In 2023, the Russian government also rescinded its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, but has insisted it will not resume live nuclear weapons testing unless the United States does so first.
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