Chad Sbragia, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for China, said the nation plans to develop its own “nuclear triad” and is expected to increase its number of nuclear warheads twofold over the next decade, DoD News reported Tuesday.
"The report does contend that there are currently an estimated low-200s in terms of warhead stockpiles, and it's projected to at least double in size over the next decade as China expands and modernizes its nuclear forces," Sbragia said of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) report "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2020” at the American Enterprise Institute.
He noted that China intends to expand its fleet of ballistic submarines, deploy more sea-launched ballistic missiles and mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles and finish the development of its air-launched, nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.
Sbragia added the East Asian country aims to transform its army into a “world-class military” by 2050 and one aspect of advancing that is through power projection.
