China pressing to double its nuclear warheads within a decade: Pentagon report
Story highlights
It also said that the Chinese Army has matched or surpassed the US Military in many areas like shipbuilding, land-based ballistic and cruise missiles, and air defense systems.
Pentagon on Tuesday said that the Chinese military is pushing to double its 200-plus nuclear warheads within a decade with the ability to launch them aboard ballistic missiles by land, sea and air.
Also read: Joe Biden reportedly raised $300 million in August, highest ever for a US presidential candidate
According to the report, the People's Liberation Army is also focused on conducting joint operations, to be able to deter or defeat any US effort to intervene on Taiwan's behalf.
It also said that the Chinese Army has matched or surpassed the US Military in many areas like shipbuilding, land-based ballistic and cruise missiles, and air defense systems.
The annual report, in its first public estimate of China's nuclear capacity, said that the country had nuclear warheads numbering "in the low 200s". These numbers are likely to be doubled within 10 years.
The country under Xi's regime has ballistic missiles that can be launched from land and sea and now are developing the capacity to do develop an air-launched ballistic missile as well, the report said.
"It is likely that Beijing will seek to develop a military by mid-century that is equal to -- or in some cases superior to -- the US military, or that of any other great power that the PRC views as a threat," the report said.
If China achieves that goal and the United States fails to address it, the report said, it "will have serious implications for US national interests and the security of the international rules-based order."
(Inputs from AFP)
