As of August 2017, the Department of Defense (DoD) had obligated $1.474 trillion for war-related costs since September 11, 2001. DoD updated its official cost report last month. See Cost of War Update as of August 31, 2017. Average monthly spending in 2017 was $3.9 billion, up from an average of $3.5 billion in 2016, the […]
The Trump Administration requested $11.02 billion for maintenance and refurbishment of nuclear weapons in the coming year. This represents a 19% increase over the amount appropriated in FY2017. Recent and proposed nuclear weapons-related spending is detailed by Amy F. Woolf of the Congressional Research Service in Energy and Water Development Appropriations: Nuclear Weapons Activities, February 27, […]
The Trump Administration requested $220 million next year “to continue the orderly and safe closure of the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility.” The MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility was intended to eliminate excess weapons-grade plutonium by blending it with uranium oxide to produce a “mixed oxide” that is not suitable for nuclear weapons. The Administration […]
Recent polls indicate that a large majority of Americans favor stricter gun laws. But lately Congress has been moving in the opposite direction. In December, the House of Representatives passed the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (HR 38) which would generally allow persons who are authorized to carry a concealed handgun in one state […]
Annual spending on defense science and technology has “grown substantially” over the past four decades from $2.3 billion in FY1978 to $13.4 billion in FY2018 or by nearly 90% in constant dollars, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. Defense science and technology refers to the early stages of military research and development, including […]
The Department of Defense this month updated its Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, as it periodically does. New entries in the nearly 400 page Dictionary include “battle rhythm,” “information exchange requirement,” and “maritime environment.”
The Central Intelligence Agency said yesterday that it has the right to disclose classified information to selected journalists and then to withhold the same information from others under the Freedom of Information Act. FOIA requester Adam Johnson had obtained CIA emails sent to various members of the press including some that were redacted as classified. […]
Recent news stories on security clearances (like these from the Christian Science Monitor and NPR) cite data from 2015 regarding the number of persons cleared for access to classified information (4.2 million at that time). Why aren’t more current numbers being cited? More recent information has already been compiled in an annual report to Congress […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service this week include the following. Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons, updated February 13, 2018 Congressional Gold Medals: Background, Legislative Process, and Issues for Congress, February 9, 2018 D.C. Circuit Upholds as Constitutional the Structure of the CFPB — Part I, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 12, 2018 Israel: Background […]
U.S. Army efforts to develop directed energy weapons — such as lasers and microwave weapons — are surveyed in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. Such weapons are probably years away from actual deployment by the Army, if indeed they ever become practical options. “While DE weapons offer a variety of advantages over […]
Soldiers need to be able to communicate on a noisy, dangerous battlefield even when conventional means of communication are unavailable. To help meet that need, the US Army has just updated its compilation of hand and flag signals. One configuration of flags signifies “Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear hazard present”: Or a soldier may […]
By Hans M. Kristensen [Note: On February 22nd, the US State Department published updated numbers instead of relying on September 2017 numbers. This blog and tables have been updated accordingly.] Seven years after the New START treaty between Russia and the United States entered into force in 2011, the treaty entered into effect on February […]