Nuclear powers are increasingly developing their arsenals as the geopolitical situation deteriorates, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), TASS reports.
"The nine nuclear-armed states - the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Israel - continued to modernize their nuclear arsenals and several deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2023," the report said. One of SIPRI's key findings is that the number and types of weapons are increasing as countries rely more and more on nuclear deterrence.
In January 2024, there were some 12,121 nuclear warheads in the world, of which 9,585 were on alert. According to the report, 3,904 of these were deployed on missiles or aircraft, a 60% increase over estimates for the previous January. About 2,100 deployed warheads were on high alert on ballistic missiles. According to the research institute, almost all of the warheads belonged to Russia or the United States, but China is believed to have placed some of them on high alert for the first time.
India, Pakistan, and North Korea, in turn, are looking for a way to put multiple warheads on ballistic missiles. The United Kingdom, China, Russia, the United States and France already have such capabilities, according to the institute.
