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The number of operational nuclear weapons increased last year as the powers stepped up their programs to expand and modernize their arsenals, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
The number of operational nuclear weapons increased last year as the powers stepped up their programs to expand and modernize their arsenals, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has warned.
Out of an estimated total of 9,576 nuclear warheads in January 2023, nine nuclear powers (USA, RussiaUK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea), about 9,576 were held in stock for potential use, up 1% from a year ago.
Of these, about 3844 warheads were deployed in missiles and aircraft and about 2000, almost all USA and Russia on high alert, according to the body’s report, which nonetheless marks a yearly drop in the world’s nuclear arsenal by nearly two points.
size nuclear arsenal these two countries, which together account for 90% of all nuclear weapons, “appear to have remained relatively stable”, although transparency in this area has decreased as a result of Russian military intervention in Ukraine started in February 2022.
SIPRI estimates that China It has increased its number of warheads by 17% over the past year and is expected to continue to grow so that by the end of this decade it could have as many ICBMs as Russia or the United States.
The report predicts that Great Britain to increase the number of warheads in the future after the government’s announcement in 2021 and emphasizes that France Programs continue to develop the third generation of nuclear ballistic missiles for submarines and air-launched cruise missiles.
India And Pakistan they seem to be expanding their arsenals as well, while North Korea it continues to prioritize its nuclear program as the centerpiece of its national security strategy.
SIPRI estimates that Pyongyang has assembled about 30 warheads and has enough fissile materials for another 50-70, a “significant” increase from last year.
It is also considered that Israelwhich publicly does not recognize the possession of nuclear weapons, is modernizing its arsenal.
“Majority nuclear powers it is the tightening of rhetoric about the importance of these weapons and even the use of explicit or implicit threats about their potential use. This nuclear competition dramatically increased the risk of using nuclear weapons for the first time since World War II. World War“, the report warns.
SIPRI also warns that the rise in geopolitical tensions and the closure of communication channels, in turn, increase the risk of “miscalculations, misunderstandings and accidentsto “unacceptably high” levels.
“There is an urgent need to restore nuclear diplomacy and strengthen international control over nuclear weapons,” condemns the report of this institute, devoted to the investigation of conflicts, weapons, gun control and disarmament, established in 1966 and based in Stockholm.
EFE
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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