Between them, the United States and Russia own almost all of these with 90% of the total. Despite this, it is expected that by the end of the decade China will have at least as many ballistic missiles as these.
According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Studies Institute (SIPRI), the number of operational nuclear weapons has increased in 2023, compared to previous years. The main world powers continue to modernize their arsenals, which belong andthe vast majority to Russia and the United States.
After analyzing the total inventory estimated last January of 12,121 warheads, it has been recorded that 9,585 of them were in military arsenals for potential use. As noted by SIPRI “almost all” belonged to Russia or the United Statesdespite the fact that China also has a large number of them: “For the first time it is believed that China may have some warheads in a state of maximum operational alert.”
“While the total number of warheads worldwide continues to fall (…), unfortunately we continue to see annual increases in the number of operational warheads. This trend is likely to continue and accelerate in the coming years, which is very worrying”, stated in the study.
As we mentioned previously, United States and Russia They are the powers that have the vast majority of nuclear weapons, almost 90% of the total. Despite this, the size of its arsenals remained stable in 2023, although it is believed that Russia could have deployed 36 more warheads with operational force. However, SIPRI considers that there is no “conclusive visual evidence” that Russia has deployed nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
For its part, China has also increased its nuclear arsenal from 410 to 500 warheads between January 2023 and 2024, which will continue to increase during the year.
By the end of the decade, it is expected that China have at least as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as the United States or Russia, since the Asian country is increasing its nuclear arsenal “faster than any other country”.
Source: Eitb
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