Russia has amassed arguably the largest nuclear arsenal in the world (Picture: AFP/Getty)

The UK’s relationship with Russia is well and truly on the rocks.

Both nations are at each other’s throats over the most politically charged situation since the end of the Cold War.

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It’s been two weeks since Sergei and Yulia Skripal fell victim to a nerve agent attack in Salisbury, but the fallout seems to be getting worse, not better.

Diplomats in London and Moscow are packing their bags as you read this, given a week to sort their affairs and return home.


Fighting talk from politicians on this scale is worrying enough, but it can often lead to questions about military and nuclear might.



So how does the UK’s nuclear arsenal compare with a nation so heavily invested in defence.

In terms of nuclear warheads, there’s no comparison.

Russia’s arsenal is even larger than the United States, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

The UK has just 3% of Russia’s nuclear might.

The number of active personnel in the UK’s armed forces compared to Russia’s is similarly in their favour.

While the UK roughly has under half Russia’s population, it has just 15% of its number of active personnel.

The UK has a fleet of four nuclear-armed submarines, each carrying 16 Trident missiles.

There is always one submarine on patrol to ensure a continuous at sea deterrent.

But for every nuclear capable submarine in the Royal Navy, Russia has six.

Even more worryingly for the UK, Russia is far more willing with using its powers than the UK.

That’s according to British military expert Justin Bronk, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

He told Metro.co.uk: ‘In the nuclear weapons domain the Russian Federation arguably outclasses the might of the United States, let alone Britain’s own minimal scale nuclear deterrent force.

‘That said, the UK’s Trident missile based nuclear deterrent can credibly threaten massive destruction in retaliation to a Russian attack and in an all out nuclear exchange, superiority in megatonnage beyond a certain point would simply ‘make the rubble bounce’ as Churchill once said.’