The nuclear powers they increased theirs atomic arsenals in 2023, modernizing them and deploying new weapons with the aim of being able to rely increasingly on deterrence. This is what we read in the annual report on nuclear weaponson disarmament and international security released by Sipri, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The Kazan nuclear submarine (with Zircon hypersonic missiles) spotted off the coast of Scotland: the route of the Russian fleet
How many nuclear warheads are there in the world?
Of the total global inventory of approximately 12,121 warheads in January 2024, approximately 9,585 were in military stockpiles for potential use as per the report released on the Sipri website. The Institute estimates that about 3,904 of these warheads were deployed by missiles and aircraft, 60 more than in January 2023, and the rest were in central storage. Approximately 2,100 of the deployed warheads were maintained on a state of high ballistic missile operational alert. Almost all of these newspapers belong to Russia or the United States, but for the first time China is believed to have some warheads on high operational alert.
The focus on China
“China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country,” said Hans M. Kristensen, senior associate fellow of SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program and director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists (Fas). “But in almost all nuclear-armed states there are significant plans or pressure to increase nuclear forces,” he adds.
Arsenals in the world
The nine nuclear-armed states are the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. “While the global total of nuclear warheads declines as Cold War-era weapons are dismantled, unfortunately we continue to see year-over-year increases in the number of operational nuclear warheads,” said SIPRI Director Dan Smith. “This trend looks set to continue and likely accelerate in the coming years and is extremely worrying,” he added.
The report
The report said India, Pakistan and North Korea are seeking to deploy more warheads on ballistic missiles, while Russia, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and China have already done so. Russia and the United States together possess nearly 90% of all nuclear weapons. The size of their respective military stockpiles remained relatively stable in 2023, although Russia is estimated to have deployed around 36 more warheads with operational forces than in January 2023. Transparency regarding nuclear forces has declined in both countries in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In addition to their military stockpiles, Russia and the United States each hold more than 1,200 warheads previously withdrawn from military service and which they are gradually dismantling.
Sipri’s estimate of the size of China’s nuclear arsenal increased from 410 warheads in January 2023 to 500 in January 2024 and is expected to continue growing. For the first time, China may also deploy a small number of missile warheads in peacetime, analysts say. Depending on how it decides to structure its forces, China could potentially have at least the same number of intercontinental ballistic missiles as Russia or the United States by the end of the decade, although its stockpile of nuclear warheads is expected to remain much larger. small compared to the stocks of either of these two countries, the report points out. The United Kingdom has not increased its nuclear weapons arsenal in 2023, but its stockpile of warheads is expected to increase in the future following the British government’s announcement to do so.
The program of France
In 2023, France continued its programs to develop a third-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SsbnN) and a new air-launched cruise missile, as well as to renew and upgrade existing systems, recalls the Stockholm Institute . India has slightly expanded its nuclear arsenal in 2023, the report said. The same goes for Pakistan, although India appears to be aiming for long-range weapons, including those capable of reaching targets across China. North Korea continues to prioritize its military nuclear program as a central element of its national security strategy. SIPRI estimates that the country has now assembled about 50 warheads and possesses enough fissile material to reach a total of 90 warheads, both significant increases over estimates for January 2023. Although North Korea did not conduct nuclear test explosions in 2023, it appears they carried out the first test of a short-range ballistic missile from a rudimentary silo. It also completed development of at least two types of land-attack cruise missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Israel, which does not publicly acknowledge that it possesses nuclear weapons, is also believed to be modernizing its nuclear arsenal and appears to be upgrading its plutonium production site in Dimona.
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