INS ARIDHAMANNew Delhi: At least 30 additional nuclear warheads for new missiles under production have been added to India’s 160 existing warheads for operational launchers, taking the total such warheads with the country to 190, according to a US nonprofit policy think tank. The article, titled ' India's Nuclear Weapons – 2026', published on Wednesday, said, “India continues to modernise its nuclear arsenal, with several new weapon systems fielded in recent years and several more under development to complement or replace existing nuclear-capable aircraft, land-based delivery systems, and sea-based systems.

We estimate that India may have produced enough military plutonium for 140 to 225 nuclear warheads and might have assembled up to 190. With more weapon systems in development, the country’s warhead stockpile will likely increase further.”

India’s Nuclear Arsenal Could Soon Surpass Britain: Why China Is Driving the ExpansionThe nuclear notebook is researched and written by the staff of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project director Hans M Kristensen, associate director Matt Korda, research and project manager Mackenzie Knight-Boyle, and senior research associate Eliana Johns. “We estimate that India currently operates nine different nuclear-capable systems: two aircraft, six land-based ballistic missiles, and one sea-based ballistic missile.

At least two more systems are in development and nearing completion and are to be fielded with the armed forces within one or a few years,” the report said. As India does not publish numbers of its its nuclear weapon stockpile, analyses and estimates made in the research are derived from a combination of open sources: state-originating data like govt statements, declassified documents; non-state-originating data like media reports, think tank analyses, and industry publications; and commercial satellite imagery.

“India’s source of weapons-grade plutonium has been the aging 100-megawatt (MWt) Dhruva plutonium production reactor at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre complex near Mumbai, and until 2010 the CIRUS reactor at the same location. After more than a decade of delays, India’s new 500-MWt Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research near Kalpakkam reached first criticality in April 2026.

Fuelled by a stockpile of reactor-grade plutonium separated from India’s first-generation power reactors, the new reactor irradiates a “blanket” of uranium or thorium to produce Plutonium-239 and Uranium-233. “Several more fast breeder reactors are planned, including two that are in pre-planning stage (FBR-1 and FBR-2) and will be located adjacent to the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam.