China is on course to double its nuclear arsenal, according to a new report from the Pentagon.
The Pentagon's report, delivered to Congress on Thursday, shows that the communist regime has amassed more than 500 operational nukes and is on track to double that number by 2030, the Washington Post reported.
"What they’re doing now, if you compare it to what they were doing about a decade ago, it really far exceeds that in terms of scale and complexity," a U.S. defense official told the Post. "They’re expanding and investing in their land, sea, and air base nuclear delivery platforms, as well as the infrastructure that’s required to support this major expansion of their nuclear forces."
The unclassified Pentagon report to Congress is a broad assessment of China's military capabilities. It determines that Chinese military experts perceive maintaining nuclear deterrence as key to its national security, and they're "concerned about the credibility of its nuclear deterrent due to its smaller nuclear force."
The report comes weeks after Air Force secretary Frank Kendall said China is preparing for war with the United States.