Number of nuclear weapons held by major powers increasing, China tops the list
By Lokmat English Desk | Published: June 12, 2023 04:55 PM2023-06-12T16:55:13+5:302023-06-12T16:55:13+5:30
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The number of operational nuclear weapons in the arsenals of the major military powers is on the rise again according to a leading thinktank.
China increased its nuclear arsenal by 60 warheads to 410 in the 12 months to January 2023, an international security think tank said Monday, adding that the increase was more than in any of the other nine nuclear-armed states.
The number of stockpiled warheads among the five-recognized nuclear powers of the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain plus India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel rose 86 to 9,576 warheads over the period as arsenals were modernized, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its annual report.
However, the think tank estimates that the overall nuclear inventories of the nine countries fell to 12,512 from 12,710.The significant expansion of China's nuclear arsenal was "increasingly difficult to square" with the country's "declared aim of having only the minimum nuclear forces needed to maintain its national security," Hans Kristensen, associate senior fellow at SIPRI, said in the report.
China's arsenal is expected to continue growing, the report said, adding that Beijing "could potentially have at least as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as either the USA or Russia by the turn of the decade."
Of the stockpiles of 9,576 warheads, the United States held 3,708, unchanged from a year earlier, and Russia raised its arsenal to 4,489 from 4,477. The stockpiles of the world's two biggest nuclear powers accounted for about 86% of the total.
North Korea's arsenal was estimated to have grown from 25 to 30 warheads, the report said, adding that the country could have enough fissile material to produce 50 to 70 warheads.
In the wake of the invasion, the United States halted its bilateral strategic stability dialogue with Russia, and Moscow suspended its participation in the New START treaty, their last remaining nuclear arms control pacts in February this year. The United States and Britain also declined to release information on their nuclear forces in 2022, the report said, in a further blow to nuclear transparency efforts.
