FOR fictional heroes like James Bond and Jack Bauer, chasing after missing nuclear weapons and saving the world is all in a day’s work.

But the disappearance of weapons of mass destruction from under the nose of the authorities is not just consigned to the spy stories – it has actually happened.

5 Nuclear bombs were being tested during the Cold War but many actually went missing Credit: Alamy

During the Cold War, both Russia and the US regularly “lost” nuclear warheads of various sizes.

The US government has admitted to losing 11, but some experts believe between 50 and 100 bombs were lost around the world.

Otfried Nassauer, an expert on nuclear armament and the director of the Berlin Information Center for Transatlantic Security, said: "The American Defence Department has confirmed the loss of 11 atomic bombs. It is believed that up to 50 nuclear weapons worldwide were lost during the Cold War."

UK defence analyst Eric Grove puts the number even higher, especially when taking into account the “Suitcase Nukes” – smaller weapons that could fit into a case – developed by Russia.

Speaking on a recent episode of Punt PI, on Radio 4, he said: “Out of the 250 former Soviet suitcase bombs, 100 were in fact ‘lost’. Although some experts believe those 100 were deployed in the West somewhere.”

Eric revealed that several H-bombs lost in the US, in incidents referred to as “broken arrows", were never recovered.

5 Defence Analyst Eric Grove believes that Russia 'lost' 100 suitcase nukes

He added: “As soon as nuclear weapons were deployed, accidents happened. Aircraft crashed, aircraft dropped them

“In the Cold War nuclear stockpiles were very large and there were a lot of bombs about – thousands – far too many in fact for any possible strategic use and Americans were on airborne alert, so they put bombers in the air.

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“So there were aircraft flying around with active armable thermonuclear weapons and sometimes things went wrong.”

Here are just some of the infamous broken arrow incidents.



Bombs over Savannah

In 1958, a US B-47 bomber was returning from a test mission with a Mark 15 nuclear bomb on board when a fleet of F100 US Air Force interceptors, practising for a Russian invasion, engaged in a simulated interception.

But one of the planes collided with the bomber, and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing on a nearby runway.

Finding the runway was CLOSED for construction work, he decided to ditch the 8,000lb bomb just off the Georgian coast.

5 A B-47 bomber was returning to base at Georgia when a simulated interception went wrong Credit: Alamy

It landed on mudflats and sunk without trace. Despite searches by frogmen, ships and overhead blimps, it was never seen again.

The US government denied that the bomb had its plutonium trigger but in a letter written in 1966, the assistant to the secretary of defence, WJ Howard, described the bomb as a “complete weapon.”



Pacific Threat

In February 1950, a B-36 bomber was flying from Alaska to Texas when it lost power in three engines and began losing altitude. To lighten the load the pilot ditched the Mark 4 (Fat Man) nuclear bomb, into the Pacific Ocean.

On impact, the conventional explosives caused a flash and a shockwave and the uranium components were never recovered. The US Air Force later said that the plutonium core wasn't present.

5 US Air Force nuclear missiles with warheads Credit: Alamy

Swamped

A B-52 bomber carrying two 24-megaton nuclear bombs crashed while taking off from an airbase in North Carolina, in January 1961.

One bomb sank into the swamp and, despite a dig to 50ft, its uranium core was never recovered.

The government subsequently bought the land to ensure nobody could dig on it without permission.

Rolling Stock

On December 5, 1965, and A-4E Skyhawk bomber carrying a 1-megaton thermonuclear hydrogen bomb simply rolled off the deck of the aircraft carrier and into the Pacific Ocean, just off Japan.

The aircraft and its nuclear cargo sank 16,000 feet and neither was ever found.

The US Navy refused to admit to the incident until 15 year later, when it claimed the plane had sunk 500 miles from land.

But it later emerged that the carrier had only been about 80 miles off Japan's Ryuku island chain.

Greenland’s stray bomb

In 1968, an American B-52 bomber crashed into the ice off Greenland and explosives on board were detonated, causing a large area of radioactive contamination.

But, according to a BBC investigation, the reconstruction of the bomb components revealed that a nuclear warhead was missing and may have drilled through the ice, a fact that the US government failed to disclose for decades.

5 Nuclear missiles were common sights in the 50's and 60's and some went missing Credit: Alamy

A Missing Sub

In 1968, as it travelled back to home base in Norfolk, Virginia, a submarine called the U.S.S. Scorpion, a nuclear attack submarine, sank about 400 miles off the Azores islands.

All 99 members of the crew died and two unspecified nuclear weapons – either missiles or torpedoes – were lost.

We previously revealed the chilling Cold War moments when we came inches from World War III.

We also revealed the bizarre military plot to target the MOON.