While the global inventory of nuclear weapons has been significantly reduced since the Cold War, there are still more than 13,000 nuclear weapons in nine different countries — more than 90% of which belong to the United States and Russia. The United States is committed to spending up to $1.5 trillion over the next 30 years on an ambitious nuclear modernization plan updating all three legs — air, sea, and ground — of the nuclear triad.
Recent Analysis on Nuclear Weapons
- Summary: Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1071) December 12, 2025
- “The war in Ukraine demonstrated that nuclear weapons have no military use.” November 22, 2025
- Experts: Full nuclear weapons tests would backfire on US November 5, 2025
- Will Trump actually test nuclear weapons? Experts are ‘disturbed’ and urge clarification October 30, 2025
- Emails between University officials reveal efforts to downplay military applications of hypersonics October 28, 2025
- ‘A House of Dynamite’: Minute-By-Minute Watch-Along Guide October 23, 2025
- What ‘A House of Dynamite’ Gets Right and Wrong About the Nuclear Launch Process October 23, 2025
- Summary: Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 3838) as passed by the House Committee on Armed Services September 3, 2025
- Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Budget Request Briefing Book July 3, 2025
- Ask PolitiFact: Was Iran ‘weeks away’ from having a nuclear weapon, as Trump said? June 23, 2025
