By Hans M. Kristensen On this day, ten years ago, U.S. President Barak Obama and Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev signed the New START treaty during a ceremony in Prague. The treaty capped the number of strategic missiles and heavy bombers the two countries could possess to 800, with no more than 700 launchers and 1,550 […]
Read MoreHans M. Kristensen
Hans M. Kristensen is the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists where he provides the public with analysis and background information about the status of nuclear forces and the role of nuclear weapons. He is the co-author to the Nuclear Notebook in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and the World Nuclear Forces chapter in the SIPRI Yearbook. Kristensen is a frequent advisor to the news media about the status and operations of the nuclear arsenals of the world's nine nuclear-armed states.
Recent Activity from Hans M. Kristensen
Count-Down Begins For No-Brainer: Extend New START Treaty
By Matt Korda and Hans M. Kristensen One year from today, on February 5, 2021, the New START treaty will expire, unless the United States and Russia act to extend the last nuclear arms control agreement for an additional five years. No matter your political orientation, treaty extension is a no-brainer – for at least […]
Read MoreUS Deploys New Low-Yield Nuclear Submarine Warhead
By William M. Arkin* and Hans M. Kristensen The US Navy has now deployed the new W76-2 low-yield Trident submarine warhead. The first ballistic missile submarine scheduled to deploy with the new warhead was the USS Tennessee (SSBN-734), which deployed from Kings Bay Submarine Base in Georgia during the final weeks of 2019 for a […]
Read MoreChina’s New DF-26 Missile Shows Up At Base In Eastern China
By Hans M. Kristensen Pictures taken recently by Maxar Technologies’ satellites show a large number of launchers for the DF-26 intermediate-range missile operating at a training site approximately 9 kilometers (5.7 miles) south of Qingzhou City in China’s Shandong Province. This is the first time the DF-26 has been seen operating in the area and […]
Read MoreUrgent: Move US Nuclear Weapons Out Of Turkey
By Hans M. Kristensen Should the U.S. Air Force withdraw the roughly 50 B61 nuclear bombs it stores at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey? The question has come to a head after Turkey’s invasion of Syria, Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian leadership and deepening discord with NATO, Trump’s inability to manage U.S. security interests in Europe […]
Read MoreNew START Treaty Data Shows Treaty Keeping Lid On Strategic Nukes
By Hans M. Kristensen The latest data on US and Russian strategic nuclear forces limited by the New START treaty shows the treaty is serving its intended purpose of keeping a lid on the two countries’ arsenals. The data was published by the State Department yesterday. Despite deteriorating relations and revival of “Great Power Competition” […]
Read MoreMilitary Might Takes Center Stage at Chinese 70-Year Anniversary Parade
By Hans M. Kristensen The Chinese leadership used the 70-year anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China to display a dizzying amount of military hardware during a parade in Beijing (see officially narrated video here; higher-quality video is here. Beijing is rapidly becoming the new Red Square when it comes to military […]
Read MoreNew Missile Silo And DF-41 Launchers Seen In Chinese Nuclear Missile Training Area
By Hans M. Kristensen Newly acquired satellite photos acquired from Digital Globe (Maxar) show that the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) is building what appears to be a new type of missile silo in the missile training area near Jilantai, possibly for use by a new ICBM. The photos also show that 18 road-mobile […]
Read MoreSunday’s US Missile Launch, Explained.
Arms Control Twitter has been abuzz since yesterday’s announcement that the United States had conducted a surprise launch of a Tomahawk missile on Sunday afternoon.
Read MoreThe INF Treaty Officially Died Today
Six months after both the United States and Russia announced suspensions of their respective obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the treaty officially died today.
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