After the historic strike on June 1, 2025, on russian strategic aviation using FPV drones, it was said it weakened one of the components of russia's nuclear triad.
Against this backdrop, the question arises as to how many nuclear warheads the russian rederation has on missiles for Tu-22M3, Tu-95MS, and Tu-160, and what of these could actually reach the United States.
Read more: SSU Blew Up the Crimean Bridge for the Third Time: What Was Used to Detonate 1100 kg of Underwater Explosives?
We can rely on the data provided in the SIPRI Yearbook 2024, which details the nuclear arsenals of nuclear-weapon states (figures are as of January 2024).
It is noted that the strategic aviation of the russian federation at that time accounted for approximately 586 nuclear warheads. The distribution was as follows: 430 nuclear warheads for Kh-55 and Kh-102 missiles carried by a fleet of 52 Tu-95MS strategic bombers, and 156 nuclear warheads for the same Kh-55 and Kh-102 missiles carried by 15 Tu-160/160Ms.
In addition, it is claimed that 114 nuclear warheads are available for the Kh-22N and Kh-32 missiles, intended for use with the Tu-22M3. It turns out that in total, the russian strategic aviation has about 700 nuclear warheads.
This figure of approximately 700 nuclear warheads for strategic aviation of the russian federation can be compared with the figures of 1,244 nuclear warheads for land-based ICBMs and 992 nuclear warheads for sea-based ICBMs. It turns out that strategic bombers account for only up to 25% of the russian entire nuclear arsenal.
It should be noted that, using only strategic aviation, russia could deliver a maximum of 586 nuclear warheads on Kh-102 and Kh-55 missiles directly to the territory of the United States. These missiles have declared ranges of up to 5,500 kilometers and 2,500 kilometers, respectively. The Kh-22N and Kh-32 missiles have declared maximum ranges of 600 kilometers and 1,000 kilometers, respectively, posing a direct threat to Europe.
However, if we base our calculations on the minimum currently confirmed russian losses of 13 Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers, we can conclude that as a result of the June 1, 2025 strike, russia lost aircraft capable of carrying approximately 100 missiles with nuclear warheads. This is a significant result.
As soon as additional visual confirmation of the damaged russian strategic aircraft is received, the equivalent number of nuclear warheads will be significantly higher.
Read more: How Many Years and Billions russia Will Need to Restore Tu-160, Tu-95MSM and Tu-22M3 Losses in Ukrainian Operation
