At 11th Hour, New START Data Reaffirms Importance of Extending Treaty October 1, 2020
Just four months before the New START treaty is set to expire, the latest set of so-called aggregate data published by the State Department shows the…
Read moreStrategic Security
China’s Expanding Missile Training Area: More Silos, Tunnels, and Support Facilities
By Hans M. Kristensen The Chinese military appears to be significantly expanding the number of ballistic missiles silos under construction in a new sprawling training area in the northern part of central China. Recent satellite images indicate that at least 16 silos are under construction, a significant expansion in just…
Read moreSecrecy News
Domestic Use of DoD Drones
The Department of Defense is authorized to use unmanned aircraft systems within U.S. airspace for more than a dozen different types of operations, from search and rescue to counterintelligence. These domestic missions, and the official guidance or legal authority behind each of them, were tabulated in a newly updated manual…
Read moreStrategic Security
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Enters Into Force Today
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force today, 90 days after the deposit of the 50th instrument of ratification. So far, a total of 86 countries have signed the treaty, which complements existing disarmament measures like the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The TPNW is a significant milestone…
Read moreSecrecy News
Biden Aims for “Highest Standards of Transparency”
"In a democracy, the public deserves as much transparency as possible regarding the work of our national security institutions, consistent with legitimate needs to protect sources and methods and sensitive foreign relationships," according to a memorandum issued by President Biden on February 4. "The revitalization of our national security and foreign…
Read morePersonal Debt and National Security September 29, 2020
Last June the Department of Defense denied an application for security clearance for access to classified information because the applicant had “delinquent debts totaling about $24,000.”…
Read moreConstruction of New Underground Nuclear Warhead Facility At Warren AFB September 28, 2020
The Air Force has begun construction of a new underground nuclear weapons storage and handling facility at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The new Weapons Storage and Maintenance Facility (WSMF; sometimes called Weapons Generation Facility), which will replace the current Weapons Storage Area (WSA), will be a 90,000-square-foot reinforced concrete and earth-covered facility with supporting surface structures.
Read moreVaccine news stories hosting malware disseminated across Spanish-language Twitter September 23, 2020
News websites publishing stories on a pause in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine trials hosted malware files. At the center of the network was the Spanish-language Sputnik News link mundo.sputniknews.com.
Read more(The Other) Red Storm Rising: INDO-PACOM China Military Projection September 15, 2020
Click on image to download PDF-version of full briefing Some Missile Numbers Do Not Match Recent DOD China Report U.S. Indo-Pacific Command…
Read moreSenator’s Challenge to War Powers Secrecy Blocked September 11, 2020
Last January the Trump Administration formally notified Congress under the War Powers Act of a US drone strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
Read moreGlobal enthusiasm and American trepidation in Russian diplomatic vaccine efforts September 2, 2020
The announcement of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, also referred to as Sputnik V, has received marginal reception in the United States. Within U.S. domestic social media conversation, Sputnik V is generally perceived as unreliable. These concerns could potentially add to preexisting skepticism towards vaccine efforts in the U.S. more generally.
Read moreThe Pentagon’s 2020 China Report September 1, 2020
(With table corrected for typos) The Pentagon has just released its long-awaited 2020 version of its annual report on China’s military developments. In this article, we…
Read more