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“Not only does this third test of the WU-14 in one year indicate that this is a priority program for China, it also suggests that U.S. historical concerns over a Chinese quantitative ‘sprint to parity’ in nuclear weapons are misdirected,” she was quoted as saying in the Beacon
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So not just China but also Russia and India are trying for a qualitative 'sprint to parity' then? Of course with the exception of Russia, even if the others achieve qualitative parity they would still be significantly behind quantitatively.
This is a logical development since missile defense is making ballistic missiles obsolete there is no point in building more of those, a new delivery vehicle is needed. I don't know if this type of delivery vehicle is any more survivable against lasers as compared to missile-based missile defense.