Nuclear weapons states upgrade warheads despite disarmament

In this Dec. 24, 1997 file photo, soldiers prepare to destroy a ballistic SS-19 missile in the yard of the largest former Soviet military rocket base in Vakulenchuk, Ukraine. The Obama administration is weighing a range of aggressive responses to Russia's alleged violation of a Cold War-era nuclear missile treaty, including deploying land-based missiles in Europe that could pre-emptively destroy the Russian weapons. This "counterforce" option is among possibilities the administration is discussi

Nuclear armed states continue to upgrade their stockpiles despite an international trend towards disarmament, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported June 15.

Between 2010 and 2015 the number of warheads fell from 22,600 to 15,850 according to the institute's annual disarmament report which said the US and Russia represented the bulk of the reduction.
 
The institute also pointed to "extensive and expensive long-term modernization programmes" in the world's two largest nuclear powers which account for 90 percent of the weapons.
 
"Despite renewed international interest in prioritizing nuclear disarmament, the modernization programmes under way in the nuclear weapon-possessing states suggests that none of them will give up their nuclear arsenals in the foreseeable future," SIPRI researcher Shannon Kile said in a statement.
 
The other three nuclear armed states legally recognised by the 1968 Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty -- China (260 warheads), France (300 warheads), Britain (215 warheads) -- are "either developing or deploying new nuclear weapon systems or have announced their intention to do so" according to the Stockholm-based peace institute.    

China was the only state among the five global nuclear powers to have a "modest" increase in the size of its arsenal.    

While the remaining nuclear states -- India (90 to 100 warheads), Pakistan (100 to 120 warheads) and Israel (80 warheads) -- have considerably smaller stockpiles, India and Pakistan continue to increase their arsenals while Israel has tested long-range ballistic missiles.    

North Korea is believed to be developing its arsenal of six to eight warheads but SIPRI said "technical progress" was difficult to...

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