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New START Treaty Data Shows Treaty Keeping Lid On Strategic Nukes

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” strategies, the data shows […]

10.04.19 | 6 min read
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Military Might Takes Center Stage at Chinese 70-Year Anniversary Parade

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 displays. On the nuclear […]

10.01.19 | 4 min read
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New Missile Silo And DF-41 Launchers Seen In Chinese Nuclear Missile Training Area

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 launchers of the long-awaited […]

09.03.19 | 7 min read
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The History of U.S. Decision-making on Nuclear Weapons in Japan

Many proposals for intermediate-range missiles in Asia refer to conventional weapons, because of their strategic importance, but many Japanese are likely to read these proposals as part of a long and politically fractious history of US weapons deployments to Japanese territory that included nuclear weapons.

08.21.19 | 8 min read
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Sunday’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.

08.20.19 | 4 min read
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No Bret, the U.S. Doesn’t Need More Nukes

Reflexively crying “more nukes” without articulating any kind of strategic vision isn’t going to get us out of the arms race.

08.14.19 | 4 min read
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The 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.

08.02.19 | 4 min read
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New Chinese White Paper Subtly Criticizes Trump’s Approach to Arms Control

China’s latest Defense White Paper calls out the US for “undermining global stability.”

07.29.19 | 3 min read
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Russia Upgrades Western Nuclear Weapons Storage Sites

Amidst a deepening rift between the United States and Russia about the role of non-strategic nuclear weapons, Russia has begun to upgrade an Air Force nuclear weapons storage site near Tver, some 90 miles (145 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. Satellite photos show clearing of trees within the site as well as the construction of a […]

07.24.19 | 3 min read
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Damning new report chronicles missile defense slip-ups

Previous GAO reports haven’t been particularly encouraging of the Missile Defense Agency’s progress, but this year’s report was especially incriminating.

06.11.19 | 3 min read
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DIA Estimates For Chinese Nuclear Warheads

During a Hudson Institute conference on Russian and Chinese nuclear modernizations, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley said in prepared remarks: “Over the next decade, China is likely to at least double the size of its nuclear stockpile…” This projection is new and significantly above recent public statements by US […]

05.31.19 | 6 min read
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The Pentagon’s 2019 China Report

[Updated] The Pentagon has released its 2019 version of its annual report on China’s military developments. The report describes a Chinese military in significant modernization. There is much to digest but this review only examines the nuclear portion. The DOD report does not indicate how many nuclear warheads China has to arm these forces. Our current […]

05.06.19 | 8 min read
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