Back to news

June 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land

Nuclear modernization speeding up as arms control on the brink: report

By:  

WASHINGTON — Overall nuclear warheads in the world decreased in 2019, but broad modernization efforts by the biggest nuclear countries — along with a degradation of arms control agreements around the world — could mean a dangerous mix for the future, according to an annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI.

The organization estimated that at the end of 2019, nine countries possessed a total of 13,400 nuclear warheads, down from the 13,865 estimated in SIPRI's previous report, which in turn was a drop from 14,465 the year before. The reductions were primarily due to numbers dropping under the New START nuclear agreement between Russia and the U.S., which experts largely expect not to be renewed at the start of the new year.

Russia is the largest holder of nuclear warheads, according to SIPRI's numbers, with 6,735 total, of which 1,570 are deployed. The U.S. follows at 5,800, with 1,750 deployed. The two countries account for over 90 percent of the world's nuclear arsenal.

The United Kingdom (250 total, 120 deployed) and France (290 total, 280 deployed) are the other two nations believed to have deployed nuclear warheads. China (320 total), India (150 total), Pakistan (160 total), Israel (90 total) and North Korea, (30-40 total) round out SIPRI's list.

Both the U.S. and Russia are engaged in expensive, widespread modernization efforts of its nuclear arsenal. America is upgrading both its legacy nuclear warheads with new designs, as well as updating its fleet of nuclear-capable bombers, submarines and ICBMs. Earlier this year, the Pentagon deployed for the first time the W76-2, a low-yield variant of the nuclear warhead traditionally used on the Trident submarine launched missile, and early design work is being done on another new submarine launched warhead design, known as the W93.

A chart from SIPRI shows the number of nuclear weapons in the world. (SIPRI)

Russia, meanwhile, has spoken openly about developing hypersonic weapons that could be nuclear equipped and has invested in novel weapons such as the Status-6, an underwater drone that could be equipped with a nuclear warhead. Moscow has also vocalized new deployment plans for its weapons and on June 2 made official a policy that it may use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack.

Those investments by the world's two nuclear superpowers come against a backdrop of the collapse of numerous arms control agreements. 2019 saw the formal end of the Intermediate Range and Shorter Range Missiles (INF) treaty, and in May the U.S. announced its intention to withdraw from the Open Skies arms control verification agreement.

The last major arms control agreement between Russia and the U.S. is New START, which is set to expire in February of 2021. In recent weeks the U.S. has announced its intention to start negotiations on a new arms control agreement that would include China.

However, Chinese officials have repeatedly and categorically denied that it would be willing to join such an agreement, and experts largely view any efforts to create a trilateral nuclear arms control pact as a New START replacement are non-starters, leading to widespread agreement among analyst that New START is likely doomed under the Trump administration.

“The deadlock over New START and the collapse of the 1987 Soviet–US Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate Range and Shorter Range Missiles (INF) Treaty in 2019 suggest that the era of bilateral nuclear arms control agreements between Russia and the USA might be coming to an end,” said Shannon Kile, Director of SIPRI's nuclear disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation program.

“The loss of key channels of communication between Russia and the USA that were intended to promote transparency and prevent misperceptions about their respective nuclear force postures and capabilities could potentially lead to a new nuclear arms race.”

https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nuclear-arsenal/2020/06/14/nuclear-modernization-speeding-up-as-arms-control-on-the-brink-report/

On the same subject

  • Avec SpaceHub, la région bordelaise veut tenir son rang dans la mobilité spatiale

    September 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

    Avec SpaceHub, la région bordelaise veut tenir son rang dans la mobilité spatiale

    Pierre Cheminade Défendre et promouvoir la position de la région bordelaise dans la compétition mondiale de la mobilité spatiale, c'est l'ambition du SpaceHub lancé conjointement par des acteurs publics et privés dont la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bordeaux Métropole, ArianeGroup et Dassault Aviation. Malgré la vente d'avions Rafale à la Grèce, qui bénéficiera directement à l'usine Dassault de Mérignac, la filière régionale de l'aéronautique-spatial-défense (ASD) a bien besoin de signaux positifs dans un contexte compliqué, tout particulièrement pour les avionneurs civils et leurs sous-traitants. Alors que Technowest vient de lancer un appel à projets pour repérer et accompagner trois nouvelles startups de l'ASD, le conseil régional de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bordeaux Métropole, Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, ArianeGroup et Dassault Aviation se mobilisent pour fédérer les énergies en matière spatiale. Une nouvelle initiative après que la présidence bordelaise de la Communauté des villes Ariane en 2020 a subi le confinement et la crise sanitaire de plein fouet tout comme le festival Big Bang. La démarche SpaceHub, présentée le 7 septembre en présence d'une myriade de partenaires publics et privés (*), vise à ainsi à démontrer que le territoire tient son rang en matière de mobilités spatiales dans un contexte plus concurrentiel que jamais avec les progrès à marche forcée réalisés par les acteurs du New Space. Deux activités seront développées de concert pour mêler étroitement recherche fondamentale et applications concrètes : un centre d'analyse prospective dédié à la mobilité spatiale travaillant avec les universités et grandes écoles françaises et internationales ainsi qu'avec les agences spatiales, civiles et de défense ; un centre d'exploration et d'accélération des concepts spatiaux "pour aboutir rapidement aux meilleures solutions, obtenir des financements associés à ses projets innovants et générer de nouvelles opportunités d'affaires." Le tout dans une logique d'ouverture et de collaboration. Une démarche qui s'inscrit également dans une logique de relance économique à moyen terme tant les innovations et technologies développées initialement pour le spatial se traduisent, dans un second temps, dans l'économie et les usages plus grand public, de la communication à la santé en passant par l'environnement et la mobilité. (*) Les partenaires industriels du projet (ArianeGroup et Dassault Aviation), le CEA, les représentants de l'écosystème de la recherche (Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, Inria, Chaire défense & aérospatial de Sciences Po Bordeaux, etc.), des acteurs majeurs soutenant le projet (Thales, Cnes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine Academic Space Center, l'association Hyfar-Ara et la Fondation Bordeaux Université). https://objectifaquitaine.latribune.fr/business/aeronautique-et-defense/2020-09-17/avec-spacehub-la-region-bordelaise-veut-tenir-son-rang-dans-la-mobilite-spatiale

  • Macron petitions Europe to support its own defense industry amid new 'war economy'

    June 17, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Macron petitions Europe to support its own defense industry amid new 'war economy'

    The French president has made an impassioned plea for Europe to focus inward to defend itself amid an evermore unstable geopolitical environment.

  • Germany says Britain taking lead on possible Eurofighters for Turkey

    October 20, 2024 | International, Aerospace

    Germany says Britain taking lead on possible Eurofighters for Turkey

All news