WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump's comments on Twitter Thursday about the U.S. need to strengthen and expand its nuclear capability raised again the issue of whether there are too many nuclear weapons in the world.
As it stands now, Russia has the most nuclear weapons — 7,300 — according to calculations provided by the non-partisan Ploughshares Fund, which advocates for a reduction in the number of such arms.
The United States has 6,970, U.S. records shows. Those numbers were negotiated between the two nations in a treaty negotiated by President Obama and the Russians and ratified by the Senate in 2010.
At its peak in 1967, the United States had 31,255 nuclear warheads, according to the Arms Control Association.
The other seven nations in the world's nuclear weapons club combined have fewer arms than either the United States or Russia, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons:
• France, 300. The bulk of its weapons are based on submarines, and it also has some that are capable of being delivered by aircraft.
• China, 260. Its warheads can be delivered by land, air and sea, according to ICANW.
• United Kingdom, 215. It has four nuclear-armed submarines with 16 missiles apiece.
• Pakistan, 110-130. Its arsenal has increased in recent years and is mostly focused on its regional rival, India.
• India, 110-120. The Indian announcement that it developed a nuclear weapon spurred a similar campaign in Pakistan.
• Israel, 80. Israel has never publicly acknowledged that it has nuclear weapons, but the United States has long believed it developed its program secretly.
• North Korea, less than 15. This isolated nation has tested several weapons in recent years, but its ability to deliver any of them successfully remains unknown.
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