Nuclear Reset - Program on Strategic Stability Evaluation (POSSE)

Chapter 2. The Modern Arsenals of <strong>Nuclear</strong> States49At the official level, both France and Great Britain have beenquite open about the status and development of their nuclear arsenals(both sea- and air-based), but while reporting the total numberof deployed nuclear warheads, neither country publishes data aboutthe actual number of warheads on deployed submarine-launchedballistic missiles (SLBMs). The discussion of these issues at the expertlevel in these countries is much narrower than it is in Russia, letalone the United States. Great Britain has been the most open of allthe nuclear powers with regard to its stored nuclear warheads andmaterials, as it has been for the entire history of its nuclear weaponsproduction.The People’s Republic of China has been completely closed in termsof official information available about its nuclear forces, as well asabout its development programs and reserve capabilities. China hasexplained this by the need to protect its “nuclear deterrence” interestsin light of its relatively “weak” strategic potential. Rather than factualinformation, Beijing issues numerous declarations about the “strictlydefensive” nature of China’s nuclear forces and the “minimal deterrence”principle behind its strategy. Most recently, a bit more informationabout the Chinese nuclear force alert configurations andoperating concept has appeared at the unofficial level (sanctioned bythe authorities, of course), but the reliability of this information israther uncertain. In contrast to its extremely “modest” strategic declarations,at the October 1, 2009, military parade marking China’s 60year anniversary, China was clearly trying to make an internationalimpression as a burgeoning military power, one with strategic nucleararms. For obvious reasons there have been no free discussions of thissubject by the country’s expert community.At the official level, India and Pakistan have remained as secretiveabout their nuclear forces and programs as China. At the sametime, both nations devote a great deal of attention to the phrasingand nuances of their nuclear deterrence doctrines.Israel does not publish any official data about its nuclear forceseither, officially even refusing to consider itself a nuclear-weaponstate. However, Israel has clearly also been trying to follow a lineof “virtual nuclear deterrence” by encouraging unofficial discussionof its nuclear forces, systems, programs, and strategic concepts bothinside the country and abroad.North Korea has officially announced its involvement in boththe testing and serial production of nuclear weapons, but for ob-