China’s nuclear warheads total 600 and raise ‘strategic stability’ concerns: Pentagon

Both the diversity and sophistication of its arsenal like precision-strike capable missiles have improved, annual US defence report finds

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An undated image of a PLA Type 094 strategic nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:14am, 19 Dec 2024Updated: 7:15am, 19 Dec 2024

China has not only expanded its number of operational nuclear warheads to 600 but improved the diversity and sophistication of its arsenal, the Pentagon said in a report released on Wednesday.

“China had a very, very small, relatively outdated nuclear arsenal” two decades ago, said Michael Chase, US deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, at the report’s launch at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

“What we’ve seen over time is that they’ve expanded to a nuclear triad, with the [People’s Liberation Army] Navy having ballistic missile submarines conducting deterrence patrols,” Chase continued.

In addition, in recent years, there has been “increasing diversity in capabilities like precision-strike capable missiles with lower-yield nuclear warheads”, he added.

The China Military Power Report, mandated by the US Congress and issued annually for the past two decades, is the Pentagon’s most comprehensive unclassified report detailing China’s defence capability.

The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, headquarters for the US Department of Defence. Photo: AFP via Getty Images/TNS

Wednesday’s report largely captured developments in China through December 2023, with some significant developments in 2024.