Russia and China’s super weapons and the threat of nuclear war
The US must fight smart, not hard, as Putin and Xi stockpile hypersonics
ByLewis Page1 October 2023 • 6:00am
After decades of disarmament, we are at the dawn of a new age of nuclear weapons. Years of stockpile reduction following the end of the Cold War
have come to an abrupt end as China ploughs billions into new armaments and the
detente between Russia and the US collapses.
Russia has “suspended” participation in the
New START weapons treaty, which limits the number of strategic warheads both Moscow and Washington can keep ready to use. Once it expires in 2026, the pact seems unlikely to be renewed.
China refuses to negotiate at all, and is increasing its nuclear arsenal rapidly. It now has more than 400 warheads, more than the UK or France. If Beijing continues investing at its current rate, it would have 1,500 by the middle of the next decade.
In time, then, there will be three nuclear superpowers, not just two. That will make the geopolitics of these missiles even more complicated and may embolden the smaller powers.
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Today’s nuclear weapons picture does not necessarily mean we are moving closer to midnight – even if the landscape is shifting under our feet.