Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have warned several times that they could fire nuclear weapons if their very existence is threatened. But NATO countries also have nuclear arsenals that are not small.
Of the 9 countries that are said to have nuclear powers, Russia does have the largest munitions, numbering 6,225, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The United States ranks second with 5,550 nuclear warheads.
However, the US excels when it comes to ready-to-operate nuclear weapons where there are 1,800 already positioned on missiles. Meanwhile, Russia has 1,625 ready to operate. Ready to operate means that at any time it can be fired at the target once there is an order.
As quoted by us from the Express, Russia's nuclear weapons are stationed in several regions of the country as well as abroad. One of them is reported to be in Kazakhstan.
Map of America's nuclear power in Europe. Photo: Express
However, the strength of NATO cannot be underestimated. Apart from the United States, other nuclear-armed NATO countries are France with about 290 warheads and Britain at around 225 nuclear warheads.
There are reports of US nuclear weapons being stationed in Europe. "About half of America's 200 short-range nuclear weapons are believed to be in five NATO countries across Europe," said A Pomper and Vasilli Tuganov, fellows at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
The US has neither denied nor confirmed the report. It is believed that the B61-3 and -4 nuclear bombers were stationed at Volkel Airbase in the Netherlands, Kleine Brogel Air Base in Belgium, Buchel Airbase in Germany as well as in Italy and Turkey.
Nuclear warhead capabilities vary, depending on their construction and design. But by today's standards, the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are nothing.
Modern nuclear bombs are much more powerful. The atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were roughly equivalent to 15 kilotons of TNT and 20 kilotons of TNT. Modern nuclear bomb, 5 times more powerful.
"Many of the modern nuclear weapons in Russia and the United States are thermonuclear with an explosive power equivalent to 100 kilotons of TNT," said the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. This means that nuclear war will be equally devastating, so it is predicted that both Russia and NATO will refrain from taking advantage of it.
