Hans M. Kristensen

Hans M. Kristensen is the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists where he provides the public with analysis and background information about the status of nuclear forces and the role of nuclear weapons. He is the co-author to the Nuclear Notebook in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and the World Nuclear Forces chapter in the SIPRI Yearbook. Kristensen is a frequent advisor to the news media about the status and operations of the nuclear arsenals of the world's nine nuclear-armed states.

Recent Activity from Hans M. Kristensen

DIA Estimates For Chinese Nuclear Warheads
Posted on May.31, 2019 in Arms Control, China, Nuclear Weapons, United States by

By Hans M. Kristensen During a Hudson Institute conference on Russian and Chinese nuclear modernizations, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley said in prepared remarks: “Over the next decade, China is likely to at least double the size of its nuclear stockpile…” This projection is new and significantly above recent […]

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The Pentagon’s 2019 China Report
Posted on May.06, 2019 in China, Nuclear Weapons by

By Hans M. Kristensen and Matt Korda [Updated] The Pentagon has released its 2019 version of its annual report on China’s military developments. The report describes a Chinese military in significant modernization. There is much to digest but this review only examines the nuclear portion. The DOD report does not indicate how many nuclear warheads China […]

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Pentagon Slams Door On Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Transparency
Posted on Apr.17, 2019 in Arms Control, Nuclear Notebook, Nuclear Weapons, Secrecy, United States by

By Hans M. Kristensen The Pentagon has decided not to disclose the current number of nuclear weapons in the Defense Department’s nuclear weapons stockpile. The decision, which came as a denial of a request from FAS’s Steven Aftergood for declassification of the 2018 nuclear weapons stockpile number, reverses the U.S. practice from the past nine years […]

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Nuclear Upgrades At Russian Bomber Base And Storage Site
Posted on Feb.25, 2019 in Nuclear Weapons, Russia by and

The Russian military has started upgrading nuclear weapons bunkers at Engels Air Base and the Saratov-63 central nuclear weapons storage facility in Saratov province. At Engels Air Base, satellite images show one of two bunkers in the weapons storage area has been exposed as part of apparent maintenance of the base’s nuclear weapons mission. The […]

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Chinese DF-26 Missile Launchers Deploy To New Missile Training Area
Posted on Jan.21, 2019 in Arms Control, ballistic missiles, China, Nuclear Weapons by

By Hans M. Kristensen [Updated Jan 31, 2019] Earlier this month, the Chinese government outlet Global Times published a report that a People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) unit with the new DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile had carried out an exercise in the “Northwest China’s plateau and desert areas.” The article made vague references to a […]

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NNSA Plan Shows Nuclear Warhead Cost Increases and Expanded Production
Posted on Nov.05, 2018 in Nuclear Weapons, United States by

By Hans M. Kristensen NNSA has published the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan for Fiscal Year 2019, which updates the agency’s work on producing and maintaining the U.S. stockpile of nuclear warheads. The latest plan follows the broad outlines of last year’s plan but contains important changes. The new plan shows significant cost increases and […]

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New START Numbers Show Importance of Extending Treaty
Posted on Oct.05, 2018 in Arms Control, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, United States by

By Hans M. Kristensen The latest New START treaty aggregate numbers published by the State Department earlier today show a slight increase in U.S. deployed strategic forces and a slight decrease in Russian deployed strategic forces over the past six months. The data shows that the United States and Russia as of September 1, 2018 […]

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Russian ICBM Upgrade at Kozelsk
Posted on Sep.05, 2018 in Nuclear Weapons, Russia by

By Hans M. Kristensen New satellite photos show substantial upgrades of ICBM silos at the missile field near Kozelsk in western Russia. The images show that progress is well underway on at least half of the silos (possibly more) of the second regiment of the 28th Guards Missile Division from the Soviet-era SS-19 ICBM to […]

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