Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
China’s Nuclear Buildup
The Department of Defense has released its annual report to Congress on Chinese military developments. The report confirms that China is accelerating its strategic nuclear breakout. China now has over 600 fully operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal, up from the estimate of 500 in last year’s report. This supports the DoD’s assessment that China is on track to have 1,000 fully operational nuclear warheads by 2030. Official assessments expect China to complete its buildup and modernization efforts by 2035. However, Xi Jinping’s aim to replace the United States as the preeminent geopolitical power—and his attendant ambitions to undermine US security alliances—raises doubts that China will be satisfied with peer nuclear status rather than nuclear superiority.
The New START Treaty between the US and Russia is the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement. Yet Moscow is not complying with its verification requirements. The treaty limits each nation to 1,550 total deployed nuclear weapons between intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments (with each bomber counted as one warhead). The treaty is expected to expire in February 2027.
No comments:
Post a Comment