The world’s global nuclear warheads fell in the past year, as states that possess them pursue arsenal modernization, according to the first study of nuclear forces data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institution.As of July, the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea had about 4,150 deployed nuclear weapons , Sipri said. If all assets are counted, these states possess about 14,935 nuclear weapons, down from 15,395 at the same time last year, Sipri said.The pace of reduction -- about 3 percent -- remains slow, despite the implementation of the U.S.-Russian bilateral Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms since 2011, Sipri said. Both the U.S. and Russia are modernizing, with the U.S. planning to spend $400 million in 2016-17 on maintaining and updating its nuclear forces. “The projected increases in U.S. spending are not unexpected.”North Korea was estimated to possess enough fissile material for about 10-20 nuclear warheads, an increase on the estimates of previous years, Sipri said. China has started a long-term modernization program focused on making qualitative improvements to its nuclear arsenal, while India and Pakistan are both expanding their nuclear-weapon stockpiles and developing their missile-delivery capabilities, Sipri said.

Source: Economic Times July 03, 2017 05:15 UTC