Possesses roughly 500 nuclear warheads

Modernisation of China’s nuclear arsenal has both accelerated and expanded in recent years. It is now believed to have one of the fastest-growing nuclear arsenals among the nine nuclear-armed states, says the latest issue of ‘Nuclear Notebook’ produced by the ‘Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’.

China now possesses roughly 500 nuclear warheads, with more in production to arm future delivery systems. The details have been researched by the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project, the report said.

“China has significantly expanded its ongoing nuclear modernisation programme by fielding more types and greater numbers of nuclear weapons than ever before,” it said.

The report said since its previous edition on China in March 2023, the country has continued to develop its three new missile silo fields for solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), expanded the construction of new silos for its liquid-fuel DF-5 ICBMs, has been developing new variants of ICBMs and advanced strategic delivery systems, and has likely produced excess warheads for eventual upload onto these systems once they are deployed.

China has also further expanded its dual-capable DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile force, which appears to have completely replaced the medium-range DF-21.