World Nuclear Powers Improve Bombs While Reducing Arsenals

The world’s global nuclear warheads fell in the past year, as states that possess them pursue arsenal modernization, according to the first study of nuclear forces data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institution.

As of July, the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea had about 4,150 deployed nuclear weapons, Sipri said. If all assets are counted, these states possess about 14,935 nuclear weapons, down from 15,395 at the same time last year, Sipri said.

The pace of reduction — about 3 percent — remains slow, despite the implementation of the U.S.-Russian bilateral Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms since 2011, Sipri said. Both the U.S. and Russia are modernizing, with the U.S. planning to spend $400 billion by 2026 maintaining and updating its nuclear forces. Sipri said some estimates valued the U.S. program at as much as $1 trillion over the next three decades.

“The current U.S. administration is continuing the ambitious nuclear-modernization plans set out by President Barack Obama,” Sipri Associate Senior Fellow Hans Kristensen said in a statement. “The projected increases in U.S. spending are not unexpected.”

 

Read More: World Nuclear Powers Improve Bombs While Reducing Arsenals – Bloomberg

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