by Matt Schroeder The Federation of American Scientists has acquired two previously unreleased US government reports on arms transfers, one on recent sales of US weapons and the other on arms purchased for the Afghanistan government with US military aid. Both documents were acquired under the Freedom of Information Act. The first report, which is […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The January 2011 issue of Air Force Magazine has a nice spread on the Chart Page where they reproduce a chart I produced of U.S. and Russian nuclear warhead inventories. The chart is the product of the research and public education I do about the status of nuclear forces in collaboration […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The Obama administration has published its budget request for Fiscal Year 2012, which includes its plans for maintaining and modernizing its nuclear weapons arsenal. Due to the extensive debate about the New START treaty last year a great deal of the nuclear plans were already known. And the budget request demonstrates […]
The General Accounting Office concludes that NNSA lacks the basis for justifying multi-billion dollar modernization projects such as the Chemical and Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. . By Hans M. Kristensen At a time when the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is asking Congress to authorize […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The Nuclear Notebooks Robert Norris and I publish in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists are now the most frequently read articles in the magazine, according to their latest announcement. The highlight of the announcement is Senator John Kerry’s use of our estimate of Russian nonstrategic nuclear weapons during the Senate […]
The New START treaty is in the bag, approved by the US Congress and Russian Duma. . By Hans M. Kristensen The upper house of the Russian Parliament (Duma) earlier today approved the New START treaty signed by presidents Medvedev and Obama in Prague on April 8, 2010. This follows approval of the treaty by […]
Following NATO’s strategic concept and expectations that the next round of US-Russian nuclear arms control negotiations will deal with tactical nuclear weapons in some shape or form, Stan Norris and I have published our latest estimate on U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Although the strategic concept states that […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The Federation of American Scientists today applauded the Senate’s ratification of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) between the United States and Russia. The Senate voted 71 to 26 in favor of ratification of the treaty. The approval of the treaty is a victory for common sense and an impressive achievement […]
PDUSPD Jim Miller appears to confirm FAS/NRDC estimates for NATO and Russia tactical nuclear weapons. By Hans M. Kristensen A Wikileaks document briefly posted by The Guardian Monday appears to give an official number for the U.S. nuclear weapons deployed in Europe: 180. The number appears in a leaked cable written by U.S. NATO Ambassador […]
Missile Watch A publication of the FAS Arms Sales Monitoring Project Vol. 3, Issue 3 November 2010 Editor: Matt Schroeder Contents: Editor’s Note: Wikileaks and arms trafficking, Missile Watch sponsorship program Global News: UN Arms Register: Venezuela was the largest importer of MANPADS in 2009 Global News: Extradition of Viktor Bout could reveal much […]
A white paper describes plans for a joint warhead. By Hans M. Kristensen The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has sent Congress a white paper describing plans for extending the life of the W78 warhead on the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). According to the paper, W78 Life Extension Program Description and Work Scope, […]
Morton Halperin speaks at CSIS By Hans M. Kristensen Kevin Kallmyer at CSIS has an interesting recap of a recent debate between Paula DeSutter and Mort Halperin about the New START Treaty. Ratification of the treaty is held up in Congress by a handful of Senators who (mis)use questions about, among other issues, verification to […]