Pakistan Seeks More Nukes - On Track to Having 5th Largest Arsenal

In 2007, Pakistan was believed to have somewhere between 30 and 60 nuclear weapons.  By the time Barack Obama was sworn in as US president, that number had climbed to the mid- to high-70s.  Pakistan is today believed to have at least 90 and possibly more than 110-nuclear weapons.  By contrast India is believed to have between 60 and 90 nuclear warheads.

Analysts believe Pakistan has enough weapons grade, fissile material to construct an additional 40 to 100 nuclear weapons, an arsenal that would rival that of France and Britain.


"If not now, Pakistan will soon have the fifth largest nuclear arsenal in the world, surpassing the United Kingdom,"   Pakistan expert and one-time CIA officer Bruce Riedel said.  "  And judging by the new nuclear reactors that are coming online and the pace of production, Pakistan is on a course to be the fourth largest nuclear weapons state in the world, ahead of France."   

Thefts of nuclear materials tend to begin as inside jobs and as Pakistan ramps up production of weapons-grade material concern increases about some of that winding up in the wrong hands.