By Priyanka Deshpande
CNBC-TV18.com
Published June 18, 2024
The number and types of nuclear weapons under development have increased, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) 2024 report. Here are the key findings:
Nine nuclear-armed nations, including the US, Russia, France, China, India, and Pakistan, continued to modernise their nuclear arsenals, with several deploying new nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2023.
Of the total global inventory of an estimated 12,121 warheads in January 2024, about 9,585 were in military stockpiles for potential use.
An estimated 3,904 of those warheads were deployed with missiles and aircraft – 60 more than in January 2023 – and the rest were in central storage.
Russia and the US together possess almost 90% of all nuclear weapons.
China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal but is still expected to remain much smaller than those of Russia and the US.
China’s nuclear arsenal increased from 410 warheads in January 2023 to 500 in January 2024 and is expected to continue growing.
Some 2,100 of the deployed warheads were kept in a state of high operational alert on ballistic missiles, nearly all of which belonged to Russia or the US.
For the first time, China is believed to have some warheads on high operational alert.
Russia is estimated to have deployed around 36 more warheads with operational forces than in January 2023.
India’s ‘stored’ nuclear warheads numbered 172 in January this year, while Pakistan had 170.