The operational nuclear arsenals of several countries, especially China, increased last year as other nuclear powers continued to modernize them, amid heightened geopolitical tensions, researchers warned today.
“We are approaching, or perhaps have already reached, the end of a long period of decline in the number of nuclear weapons around the world,” Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI, told AFP. , in the original. acronym).
The total number of nuclear warheads among the nine nuclear powers – Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, the United States and Russia – fell to 12,512 at the beginning of 2023, from 12,710 at the beginning of 2022. . , according to SIPRI.
However, 9,576 are in “military reserves for potential use”, 86 more than a year earlier.
Of these, 3,844 warheads were installed on missiles and aircraft, and some 2,000, almost all of them in the United States and Russia, were on full operational alert.
The size of the arsenals of these two countries, which together represent 90% of total nuclear weapons, “seems to have remained relatively stable”, although transparency in this area has diminished after the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, which began in February. of 2022.
The organization estimates that China has increased the number of nuclear warheads by 17% in the last year, and it is expected to continue growing, and by the end of the decade it could have as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as Russia and the United States.
SIPRI distinguishes between stock available for use and full inventory, which includes equipment that is too old and needs to be dismantled.
“The stockpile consists of usable nuclear warheads and these numbers are starting to rise,” said Dan Smith, noting that the numbers are still far from the more than 70,000 recorded in the 1980s.
With China’s largest increase from 350 to 410 warheads, Dan Smith noted that the country has invested heavily in its military as its economy and influence have grown.
India, Pakistan and North Korea also increased their stocks, as did Russia, to a lesser extent (from 4,477 to 4,489), while the rest of the nuclear powers maintained their volumes.
For Dan Smith, this increase in stocks cannot be explained by the war in Ukraine, taking into account the long time needed to develop nuclear warheads and the countries that have made this choice and are not directly affected by the conflict.
Other data in the report indicates that Britain must increase its number of warheads, and that France is pursuing programs to develop a third generation of submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missiles and airborne cruise missiles.
And it is suggested that Israel, which does not publicly admit to possessing nuclear weapons, is also modernizing its arsenal.
Source: TSF
