Setting the Deadline for Nuclear Weapon Removal from Host States under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Figures & data

Figure 1. Foreign deployment timelines for nuclear weapons belonging to the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. The Soviet Union also deployed nuclear weapons in all Soviet Republics, not shown in the figure, because deployment start and end times could not be reliably determined. US and British nuclear weapons deployed to West Germany remained there after reunification with East Germany in 1990. The sources for the figure are cited in the text.

Figure 2. Map showing air force bases overseas hosting US nuclear weapons, with estimated nuclear weapon deployments as of October 2021 (Kristensen 2021a). Countries colored in light gray are NATO member states.

Figure 3. Left: Military personnel strap down a test nuclear weapon in a C-17 Globemaster III, 9 March 2009 (Source: US Defense Department photo by Benjamin Faske, https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000602126).

Center: Military personnel secure a “nuclear cargo training aid” inside a C-17 during a PNAF nuclear airlift mission training exercise, McChord AFB, 17 December 2008 (Source: US Air Force photo by Casey Collier, https://www.mcchord.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000641009). Right: Military personnel inspecting the “Command Disablement System”, a safety measure, on a US B-61 nuclear bomb on board a C-17 transport aircraft at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, 8 April 2021. (Source: US Air Force photo by Callie Norton, https://www.mcchord.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2002617692).

Kristensen, H. M. 2021a. “NATO Nuclear Weapons Exercise over Southern Europe.” FAS blog: Strategic Security, 20 October 2021. https://fas.org/blogs/security/2021/10/steadfastnoon2021

 Google Scholar