Nuclear Stockpiles are increasing amid rising tensions

All P5 members continue to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals.

The world’s nuclear arsenal is expected to increase in the coming years for the first time since the end of the cold war. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has heightened tensions among the world’s nuclear-armed states. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said countries are increasing their stockpiles of nuclear warheads. This includes the UK, which announced its decision to increase the ceiling on its total warhead stockpile, in 2021. The increase comes despite a statement from the UN’s Security Council in 2021 – the US, Russia, China, the UK, and France – stating that “nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” All P5 members continue to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals.

The UK presently has about 195 nuclear warheads, of which 120 of which are operational.  In early 2021, France officially launched a program to develop a third-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), while India and Pakistan appear to be expanding their nuclear arsenals, and both countries introduced and continued to develop new types of nuclear delivery systems in 2021. The SIPRI said that unless immediate action was taken by the nuclear powers, global inventories of warheads could soon begin rising for the first time in decades.