Updated November 2023 While no consensus definition exists, non-strategic nuclear weapons, otherwise known as tactical nuclear weapons, are generally low-yield nuclear weapons designed for use on the battlefield. They can also be defined as weapons not covered by strategic arms control treaties, such as New START, which encompass nuclear weapons delivered via intercontinental ballistic missiles […]
Nuclear Modernization
Summary of Senate Version of Fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Bill
On May 12, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved a $602 billion authorization bill by a vote of 23-3. The three Senators who voted no were reported as Deb Fischer (R-NB), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT). Cruz said he voted no because of the provision requiring women to register for the draft. Lee […]
Fact Sheet: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Costs and Challenges
Updated July 2021 What Is It? The F-35, known as the Lightning II, is a Joint Strike Fighter (JSF, emphasis added) because contracts exist for the United States Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy, as well as eight NATO countries and five non-NATO partners. The fighter has three variants, one of which (F-35A) will have […]
Wall Street Journal Quotes Angela Canterbury on Pentagon’s Announcement to Upgrade Nuclear Forces
Hagel Proposes $1.5 Billion to Improve Nuclear Weapons Forces By Julian E. Barnes …Arms control advocates called the Defense Department’s approach misguided and argued for steps to reduce the arsenal rather than spending more. “They are going to throw billions of dollars at this problem, which is like saying they are going to throw billions […]
LA Times Quotes Board Member Phil Coyle on Aging U.S. Nuclear Arsenal
As U.S. Nuclear Arsenal Ages, Other Nations Have Modernized By Ralph Vartabedian and W.J. Hennigan While the nuclear confrontation between the United States and Russia cooled off after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, it has never ended. Indeed, the long-held hope for continual reductions in nuclear forces now seems unattainable, nuclear arms analysts […]
