Ivan Eland
After a decades-long post-Cold War halt to designing, manufacturing, and testing new nuclear arms, the United States is implementing a three-decade-long, $1.7 trillion program to modernize and increase its already sizable arsenal of nuclear weapons, according to a recent New York Times report by W. J. Hennigan. This program, which is already over budget and behind schedule (as most weapons programs tend to be in the Pentagon’s uncompetitive procurement environment), is also an overreaction to other nuclear weapons powers. It should be pared back significantly.
During the nuclear insanity of the Cold War, during the late 1980s, the world had around 70,000 nuclear warheads, up from roughly 3,000 in 1955. As a result of arms control and the end of the Cold War, the number now stands at about 12,000 globally. The United States currently has about 5,748 warheads in its nuclear arsenal compared to Russia’s 5,580. Together, both arsenals contain more than 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads. When New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), which limits long-range nuclear warheads and delivery systems, expires in early 2026, the United States is considering adding warheads to its arsenal. China currently possesses 500 warheads, is on schedule to double that number by the turn of the decade, and may build up its force further by 2035. Russia has also overhauled its nuclear arsenal.
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