United States nuclear weapons, 2021

Figures & data

Table 1. US nuclear forces, 2021

Type/Designation	No.	Year deployed	Warheads x yield (kilotons)	Warheads (total available)^1
ICBMs
LGM-30 G Minuteman III
Mk-12A	200	1979	1–3 W78 x 335 (MIRV)	600^2
Mk-21/SERV	200	2006^3	1 W87 x 300	200^4
Total	400^5			800^6
SLBMs
UGM-133A Trident II D5/LE 240^7
Mk-4A		2008^8	1–8 W76-1 x 90 (MIRV)	1,511^9
Mk-4A		2019	1–2 W76-2 x 8 (MIRV)^11	25^10
Mk-5		1990	1–8 W88 x 455 (MIRV)	384
Total	240			1,920^12
Bombers
B-52H Stratofortress	87/44^13	1961	ALCM/W80-1 x 5–150	528
B-2A Spirit	20/16	1994	B61-7 x 10–360/-11 x 400	322
			B83-1 x low-1,200
Total	107/60^14			850^15
Total strategic forces				3,570
Nonstrategic forces
F-15E, F-16 DCA	n/a	1979	1–5 B61-3/-4 bombs x 0.3–170^16	230
Total				230^17
Total stockpile				3,800
Deployed				1,800^18
Reserve (hedge and spares)				2,000
Retired, awaiting dismantlement				1,750
Total Inventory				5,550

ALCM: air-launched cruise missile; DCA: dual-capable aircraft; ICBM: intercontinental ballistic missile; LGM: silo-launched ground-attack missile; MIRV: multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle; SERV: security-enhanced reentry vehicle; SLBM: submarine-launched ballistic missile.

¹Lists total warheads available. Only a portion of these are deployed with launchers. See individual endnotes for details.

²Roughly 200 of these are deployed on 200 Minuteman IIIs equipped with the Mk-12A reentry vehicle. The rest are in central storage.

³The W87 was initially deployed on the MX/Peacekeeper in 1986 but first transferred to the Minuteman in 2006.

⁴Of 567 W87s produced, 540 remain. The 200 Mk21-equipped ICBMs can each carry one W87. The remaining 340 W87s are in storage. Excess W87 pits are planned for use in the W78 Replacement Program previously designated IW-1 but now called W87-1.

⁵Another 50 ICBMs are in storage for potential deployment in 50 empty silos.

⁶Of these ICBM warheads, 400 are deployed on operational missiles and the rest are in long-term storage.

⁷Only counts 240 SLBMs for 12 deployable ballistic missile submarines. Two other ballistic missile submarines are in refueling overhaul, for a total of 280 launchers. There are a total of 448 SLBMs in the inventory, of which about half are for spares and flight tests. The life-extended D5LE is replacing the original missile.

⁸The W76-1 is a life-extended version of the W76-0 that was first deployed in 1978.

⁹All W76-0 warheads are thought to have been replaced on ballistic missile submarines by W76-1 warheads, but several hundred are still in storage, and more have been retired and are awaiting dismantlement. After the W76-1 life-extension program production is completed in FY2019, the remaining W76-0 warheads will be scrapped.

¹⁰The W76-2 is a single-stage low-yield modification of the W76-1 with an estimated yield of 8 kilotons.

¹¹Assumes two SLBMs, each with one W76-2, available for each deployable SSBN.

¹²Of these SLBM warheads, approximately 1,000 are deployed on missiles loaded in ballistic missile submarine launchers.

¹³Of the 87 B-52s, 76 are in the active inventory. Of those, 46 are nuclear-capable, of which less than 40 are normally deployed.

¹⁴The first figure is the total aircraft inventory, including those used for training, testing, and back-up; the second is the portion of the primary-mission aircraft inventory estimated to be tasked with nuclear missions. The United States has a total of 66 nuclear-capable bombers (46 B-52s and 20 B-2s).

¹⁵Of these bomber weapons, only about 300 are deployed at bomber bases. These include an estimated 200 ALCMs at Minot Air Force Base and approximately 100 bombs at Whiteman Air Force Base. The remaining 550 weapons are in long-term storage. B-52s are no longer tasked with delivering gravity bombs.

¹⁶The F-15E can carry up to 5 B61s. Some tactical B61s in Europe are available for NATO DCAs (F-16, PA-200). Maximum yield of B61-3 is 170 kt; maximum B61-4 yield is 50 kt.

¹⁷An estimated 100 B61-3 and −4 bombs are deployed in Europe, of which about 60 are earmarked for use by NATO aircraft. The remaining 130 bombs are in central storage in the United States as backup and contingency missions in the Indo-Pacific region.

¹⁸Deployed warheads include approximately 1,400 on ballistic missiles (400 on ICBMs and 1,000 on SLBMs), 300 weapons at heavy bomber bases, and 100 nonstrategic bombs deployed in Europe.

Figure 1. The US Air Force has increased bomber operations as part of a Great Power Competition strategy, with frequent flights over all areas around Russia. This image shows US B-52 bomber and Norwegian F-16 fighters over Northern Norway in November 2019 before the bombers continued into the Barents Sea near Russia’s strategic submarine base on the Kola Peninsula. (Image: US Air Force)

Figure 2. After years of development, construction of the first of 12 Columbia-class SSBNs will begin in 2021, with first deterrent patrol scheduled for 2031. (Image: US Navy)

Figure 3. The B-21 bomber program will expand the number of US nuclear bomber bases. (Image: US Air Force)

Figure 4. An F-35A carries out a test drop of a B61-12 guided nuclear bomb over Nevada in August 2020. The B61-12 will replace all US strategic and tactical nuclear gravity bombs and also be supplied to NATO allies. (Image: US National Nuclear Security Administration)