US to allocate over INR 145000 Crores on maintaining nuclear arsenal
The budget bill is expected to be approved and submitted for signing to US President Joe Biden later in the week
US lawmakers plan to allocate more than INR 145,000 crores (US $17.116 bln) to maintain the country’s nuclear arsenal in combat readiness in the 2023 fiscal year, according to a budget bill published on the US Senate’s website on Tuesday.
The bill raises research spending over INR 68000 crores (US $8.1 bln). Another INR 1700 Crore (US $200 mln)will be allocated to ensure the nuclear sector’s cybersecurity, while a sum of over INR 21000 (US $2.49 bln) is expected to be spent on efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and again over INR 21000 Crores (US $2.08 bln) will be allocated to develop nuclear reactors for the Navy.
According to Director of the Nuclear Information Project with the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) Hans Kristensen and his colleague Matt Korda, as of the beginning of 2022, the Pentagon maintained 3,708 warheads with yields ranging between five and 455 kilotons, both deployed and held in reserve. In addition, 1,720 retired warheads were awaiting dismantlement at the Pantex Plant in Texas. All in all, America’s arsenal is supposed to include 5,428 nuclear warheads, experts from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said.
The budget bill is expected to be approved and submitted for signing to US President Joe Biden later in the week.
Whereas India has been urging all nuclear weapon states to eliminate all their nuclear arsenal. First step should be to reduce them to a common number for each nuclear Armed country and thereafter eliminate them totally. However till any country continues to hold even a single nuclear weapon, even India will do so.
