The U.S. Army has published its 2011 Weapon Systems handbook, a catalog of current weapon programs that are in various phases of the acquisition process. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News. Many of the programs are mature and familiar; others are less so. In each case, the program’s purpose and status are described, contractors involved in production are identified, and countries that have acquired the weapon system through foreign military sales programs are listed.
A lack of sustained federal funding, deteriorating research infrastructure and networks, restrictive immigration policies, and waning international collaboration are driving this erosion into a full-scale “American Brain Drain.”
With 2000 nuclear weapons on alert, far more powerful than the first bomb tested in the Jornada Del Muerto during the Trinity Test 80 years ago, our world has been fundamentally altered.
As the United States continues nuclear modernization on all legs of its nuclear triad through the creation of new variants of warheads, missiles, and delivery platforms, examining the effects of nuclear weapons production on the public is ever more pressing.
“The first rule of government transformation is: there are a lot of rules. And there should be-ish. But we don’t need to wait for permission to rewrite them. Let’s go fix and build some things and show how it’s done.”