China Pushing to Double Nuclear Warhead Arsenal: Pentagon
It is likely that Beijing will seek to develop a military by mid-century that is equal to -- or in some cases superior to -- the US military, a Pentagon report said.
The Chinese military is pressing to double its 200-plus nuclear warheads within a decade with the ability to launch them aboard ballistic missiles by land, sea, and air, the Pentagon said in a report Tuesday.
Aside from aiming for technological parity with the United States, the People’s Liberation Army is also focused on conducting joint operations, to be able to deter or defeat any US effort to intervene on Taiwan’s behalf, the report said.
It said that PLA has already matched or surpassed the US military in several areas, including shipbuilding, land-based ballistic and cruise missiles, and air defense systems.
And in its first public estimate of China’s nuclear capacity, the annual report said the country has warheads numbering “in the low 200s” in its nuclear stockpile, fewer than the 300 or more estimated by independent analysts.
The report says that the number is expected to double over 10 years. China can already launch nuclear weapons by a ballistic missile from land and sea, and is developing the capacity to do develop an air-launched ballistic missile as well, the report said.
“It is likely that Beijing will seek to develop a military by mid-century that is equal to — or in some cases superior to — the US military, or that of any other great power that the PRC views as a threat,” the report said.
