Reductions of ICBM up to 2003

At the end of 1995 the US nuclear arsenal contained 575 ICBMs, which included 525 Minuteman IIIs (each carrying 3 MIRVs), and 50 MXs (each carrying 10 MIRVs), making a total of 2,075 nuclear warheads. After the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) has been implemented by the year 2003, the US's operational strategic nuclear arsenal should include, at most, 500 Minuteman III ICBMs, each carrying a single nuclear warhead.

At the end of 1995 the ex-Soviet nuclear arsenal contained 727 ICBMs carrying a total of 3,565 nuclear warheads. After the START II Treaty has been implemented, the Russian operational strategic nuclear arsenal will probably include about 800 ICBMs, each carrying a single warhead.
The number of deployed US ICBMs increased from 18 in 1960 to 1,054 in 1967. Thereafter the number remained constant until 1980, since when it has steadily decreased to today's (1996) figure of 575. The number of Soviet-deployed ICBMs increased from a few in 1959 to a peak of 1,618 in 1974. By 1980 it had decreased to 1,398 and has since decreased steadily to a 1996 figure of 727.

So far, the US has phased out all its Titan, Minuteman I, and Minuteman II ICBMs and over the next few years plans to phase out its MX ICBMs, leaving only the Minuteman IIIs. Many of the ex-Soviet ICBMs will have been phased out over the next few years, leaving only 150 SS-19s and 345 SS-25s.

The total number of ICBMs deployed by the United States and the former Soviet Union has decreased from a peak of 2,672 in 1974 to today's figure of about 1,300 and is expected to remain at about this figure. The number of nuclear warheads carried by these ICBMs will, however, decrease considerably, from about 5,600 today to about 1,300 by the year 2003.