A newly revised U.S. Air Force directive on continuity of operations under emergency circumstances refers matter-of-factly to Raven Rock Mountain Complex, a largely restricted U.S. government facility in Pennsylvania. See Air Force Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program, Air Force Instruction 10-208, 15 December 2011.
Raven Rock, also known as Site R, has been operational since 1953 for purposes of emergency communications, disaster relocation and recovery. But most operations at the facility have been classified, and the facility itself was rarely mentioned in official publications during most of the past half century. A previous edition of the new Air Force Instruction that was issued in 2005 made no reference to Raven Rock.
Successful NC3 modernization must do more than update hardware and software: it must integrate emerging technologies in ways that enhance resilience, ensure meaningful human control, and preserve strategic stability.
The FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) paints a picture of a Congress that is working to both protect and accelerate nuclear modernization programs while simultaneously lacking trust in the Pentagon and the Department of Energy to execute them.
For Impact Fellow John Whitmer, working in public service was natural. “I’ve always been around people who make a living by caring.”
While advanced Chinese language proficiency and cultural familiarity remain irreplaceable skills, they are neither necessary nor sufficient for successful open-source analysis on China’s nuclear forces.