New Analysis
Although the United States and Russia have cut down on nuclear weapons spending after the Cold War, China has been expanding its nuclear arsenal to match the top nuclear triad nations, resulting in greater tensions and threats of nuclear warfare.
However, China’s ability to launch nuclear weapons at sea has become a challenge due to problems with its ballistic missile submarines.
On Nov. 18, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Samuel Paparo said in Washington that China had equipped six of its Jin-class (Type 094) submarines with JL-3 intercontinental ballistic missiles. Paparo emphasized that these ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) were built to threaten the United States, and that the U.S. Navy is closely tracking them….