CHINA : NUCLEAR CAPABILITY BUILDING
Annual Report to US Congress. Office of the US secretary of defense recently published the unclassified part of the annual report on military and security developments involving the people’s republic of china. The US Department of Defense (DoD) has been providing this report for the last 20 years.
Excerpts from US Report.
- China’s strategic ambitions, evolving view of the security landscape, and concerns over survivability are driving significant changes to the size, capabilities, and readiness of its nuclear forces.
- China’s nuclear forces will significantly evolve over the next decade as it modernizes, diversifies, and increases the number of its land-, sea-, and air-based nuclear delivery platforms.
- Over the next decade, China’s nuclear warhead stockpile—currently estimated to be in the low- 200s—is projected to at least double in size as China expands and modernizes its nuclear forces.
- China is pursuing a “nuclear triad” with the development of a nuclear capable air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) and improving its ground and sea-based nuclear capabilities.
- New developments in 2019 further suggest that China intends to increase the peacetime readiness of its nuclear forces by moving to a launch-on-warning (LOW) posture with an expanded silo- based force.
Comments
Ambition. China has a global ambition and has clearly articulated her long term vision for improving her strategic capability. Towards this aim she has developed a large scale weapons research, development and manufacturing capability including nuclear weapons. China is modernising and expanding her nuclear arsenal, and is developing the nuclear triad, made up of new land and sea-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft.
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