Buzz
While many consider the nuclear threat a relic of the past, a leftover from the Cold War era, it's crucial to remember that US President Barack Obama prioritized nuclear disarmament during his 2008 campaign. It's also true that the US has significantly reduced its nuclear stockpile since the 1980s.
However, the remaining nuclear weapons still have the potential to obliterate the planet multiple times. As global nuclear powers continue to clash, it's time to take a closer look at some lesser-known facets of the US arsenal.
10. The US Holds the Second-Largest Nuclear Arsenal
Established in 1970, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty mandates that nations with nuclear weapons should work towards disarmament, while those without nuclear arms should refrain from attempting to acquire them.
The treaty designates five nations as 'nuclear weapon states': the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia. While many believe the US has the largest arsenal, it never has. That distinction belongs to Russia, previously the Soviet Union.
At the height of the Cold War in the mid-1980s, the USSR possessed 45,000 warheads. Today, Russia's arsenal has dwindled to just 8,500, compared to around 7,700 held by the US. However, the US has a slight advantage over Russia when it comes to deployed warheads—those that are ready to launch immediately—with 2,000 in comparison to Russia's 1,800.
9. A Diverse Range of Weapons
A significant portion of these deployed warheads could be launched by Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, with 400 of these missiles stationed in 11 different silos across the US. While these missiles can target nearly any nation on Earth, they are far from the only option available for a US nuclear strike.
The United States also operates a fleet of nearly 100 nuclear-capable bombers, many of which are stealth aircraft, all equipped to deliver catastrophic payloads. However, one of the most daunting weapons in the arsenal is the Ohio-class submarine.
Built for extended underwater missions, this nuclear-powered submarine is equipped with 24 missile chutes, each capable of launching a Trident missile that carries multiple independently targeted warheads. Just one of these subs carries enough destructive power to kill millions. The US has a total of 14 such submarines.
8. It’s Not Accounted for in the Defense Budget
Not all military expenditures are managed by the Department of Defense, which is understandable in some cases. For instance, costs related to healthcare and veterans' services are typically handled separately or fall under the budgets of other agencies.
Classified operations, or 'black ops,' are intentionally excluded from the military budget. Additionally, the military's most powerful weapons, along with the entire nuclear program, are overseen by the Department of Energy (DOE).
Despite their starkly different purposes, nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons are both fully managed by the DOE. This is a critical point, especially when considering that the US military budget, the largest in the world, does not include the additional billions spent annually on maintaining its nuclear arsenal.
7. The Maintenance Is Outsourced
The projected cost of maintaining the US nuclear arsenal is currently estimated at around $1 trillion over the next 30 years. This includes funding for the 'modernization' of the arsenal, such as enhancing the targeting range of certain missiles.
While such upgrades may offer limited improvements in terms of security or deterrence, many private, non-governmental companies stand to gain significantly from these efforts. These companies contract with the Department of Energy, with even the smallest contracts amounting to millions of dollars.
For instance, the smaller power generation company Babcock & Wilcox was awarded over $76 million in 2014 for work on upgrading the nuclear submarine fleet. Meanwhile, larger companies like General Dynamics secure multibillion-dollar contracts for development and design projects. In 2015 alone, these firms spent $67 million lobbying Congress for greater weapons funding.
6. A Significant Portion Is Stored Abroad
Although the 2016 military coup attempt in Turkey was unsuccessful, it raised important concerns about the potential impact on US interests in the event of a forced change of government. After all, Turkey is home to Incirlik Air Base, a critical US facility used for airstrikes against the Islamic State. Approximately 50 US nuclear weapons are stored there as part of a NATO agreement dating back to the 1960s.
Under the agreement, the United States 'shares' nuclear weapons with several NATO allies, who store them while others maintain aircraft capable of delivering these weapons. US-owned nuclear weapons are also stored in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium.
The US is in charge of their upkeep and security. Critics in Turkey have frequently pointed to the region's instability as a reason to end the program. The 2016 coup attempt highlighted their concerns: the commander of Incirlik Air Base was detained during the event.
5. A Shift Away from Disarmament
President Obama ran on the promise of a 'nuclear-free world,' and his early spending proposals for the maintenance of the nuclear arsenal reflected that vision. The somewhat paradoxical belief was that by refurbishing the nuclear arsenal, confidence in its reliability would increase, leading to more disarmament agreements and fewer missiles. However, in the geopolitical landscape of the past decade, this approach has not come to fruition.
In reality, Obama’s primary nuclear adviser during his first term specifically highlights Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the point when a policy focused on unilateral disarmament became unfeasible. Even those who advocate for arms reduction acknowledge that the process of modernization has not led to a decrease in warheads.
4. A Large Number of Bombs Have Been Lost and Never Found
Since the onset of the Cold War, several nuclear weapons or their critical components have been lost without a trace. Perhaps even more unsettling is the lack of consensus on the exact number of such incidents, likely due to the highly classified nature of these events.
Most estimates suggest the number lies between 6 and 11, with many additional 'broken arrow' incidents, where the weapons were eventually recovered.
Some of the more unsettling examples include: the mysterious sinking of the USS Scorpion nuclear submarine in 1968, which carried two unreported nuclear warheads; the 1956 disappearance of a B-47 bomber with two nuclear cores aboard; and the 1961 crash of a B-52 bomber in a North Carolina swamp, resulting in the loss of a uranium core.
3. The President Holds Near-Unilateral Authority
There are virtually no measures in place to stop a sitting US president from ordering a nuclear strike on their own initiative.
The reasoning behind this is that America’s nuclear arsenal must be ready for rapid deployment to effectively serve as a deterrent. For this reason, the president must have the ability to launch a strike immediately. While the secretary of defense must approve the order, he is legally bound to do so and lacks the power to veto it.
If this seems shocking, remember the words of then-Vice President Dick Cheney in 2008:
[The president] could launch a kind of devastating attack the world’s never seen. He doesn’t have to check with anybody. He doesn’t have to call the Congress. He doesn’t have to check with the courts. He has that authority because of the nature of the world we live in.
2. The ‘Nuclear Football’
Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy expressed his concerns in a memo: “What would I say to the Joint War Room to launch an immediate nuclear strike?” and “How would the person receiving my instructions confirm them?” It seems no one had considered these questions before.
This led to the creation of the president’s emergency satchel, known as the “football.” It contains the nuclear launch codes, a method to verify the president’s identity, a direct line to the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon, and a simplified menu of options for various nuclear strike scenarios.
Along with the laminated code card (nicknamed the “biscuit”), the “football” has been with nearly every president since Kennedy. The only major exception was Bill Clinton, who misplaced the “biscuit” for several months in 2000.
1. Nuclear Strikes Have Almost Been Ordered
Between 1945 and 1949, the United States developed nine comprehensive plans for a “first strike” nuclear assault on the Soviet Union, despite the fact that the US nuclear arsenal was relatively small at the time. One such plan, Operation Dropshot, was poised to start on January 1, 1957, had the Soviet Union not tested its own nuclear weapon later in 1949.
Other “first strike” strategies were also on the verge of being carried out. A year before the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev threatened to seize control of West Berlin. In retaliation, US military officials prepared an extensive plan to deploy nuclear bombers to obliterate the Soviet nuclear weapons, the Kremlin, and other critical targets.
The so-called “Berlin Crisis” was a direct precursor to the Cuban missile crisis. After President Kennedy made a public speech that seemed to hint at the possibility of a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union, Khrushchev decided to place missiles in Cuba to gain a strategic advantage.
+ Further Reading
If you're still reading this, it means the world hasn't been annihilated by a nuclear attack! So, here are some additional lists from the archives to keep you occupied until doomsday arrives!
10 Unsolved Nuclear Mysteries 10 Scary Events In The History Of Nuclear Power 8 Potentially World-Ending Nuclear Scares 10 Dangerous Misconceptions About Nuclear Technology
