China continues to develop its nuclear weapons program. Yesterday, November 3, the portal cbsnews.com He reported that a new report from the US Department of Defense indicates that by 2030, China will be able to have thousands of nuclear weapons.
These data significantly exceed the previous estimates of the US Department of Defense. So, last year's report contained a forecast of twofold growth — from 200 to 400 warheads by 2030.
Chinese DF-41 missile system capable of carrying a nuclear warhead
Image source: dailymail.co.uk
"China can develop more than 700 nuclear warheads by 2027 and probably intends to produce more than 1,000 warheads by 2030, exceeding the pace and size that the Ministry of Defense predicted for 2020," the ministry said in its annual report to Congress.
According to the report for 2021, China has begun construction of at least three mine fields with hundreds of launchers from which intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads can be fired.
According to SIPRI, there were 13,865 nuclear warheads in the world in January 2019. At the same time, 3,750 nuclear warheads are in operational deployment, and another 2,000 are on high alert. Russia and the United States have the most nuclear warheads.
