China has developed 400 nuclear warheads and is on course to expand its arsenal to 1,500 weapons by the middle of the next decade as its continues a dramatic expansion of its nuclear forces, according to a Pentagon report.
The Pentagon said Beijing “probably accelerated” its nuclear expansion last year and was on track to have a stockpile of 1,500 nuclear weapons by 2035. That would give it almost as many warheads as the US and Russia have deployed under the limits of the New Start arms control agreement, although China would still lag behind the two powers in total number of weapons.
“The People’s Liberation Army plans to basically complete modernisation of its national defence and armed forces by 2035. If China continues the pace of its nuclear expansion, it will probably field a stockpile of about 1,500 warheads by its 2035 timeline,” the Pentagon said in its annual report to Congress on the Chinese military.