The U.S. Air Force recently stripped 17 officers of their authority to control and launch intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBMs) after inspections indentified potential problems that could endanger U.S. national security. Although the incident did not impact security and operational readiness of U.S. ICBM forces, the Air Force is right to …
Thirty years ago, President Ronald Reagan put forth a vision to reduce the danger of nuclear war by launching the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Representative Doug Lamborn (R–CO), member of the House Armed Services Committee, continues to pursue this vision on Capitol Hill. Lamborn, co-chair of the Missile Defense Caucus, …
North Korea’s third nuclear test and inflammatory YouTube threats against President Obama and American troops have placed the nuclear debate front and center in the nomination fight over former Senator Chuck Hagel (R–NE) as Secretary of Defense. Hagel’s radical views on nuclear disarmament are in line with those of President …
Recently, Time magazine covered the aging status of the U.S. Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The article shone a spotlight on the problem of the deteriorating U.S. nuclear deterrent. The United States is the only nuclear power that does not have a nuclear modernization program. The U.S. approach to …
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently oversaw a strategic exercise—including a series of coordinated missile tests—that drew on Russia’s nuclear “triad” (bombers, intercontinental-range ballistic missiles [ICBMs], and submarine-launched ballistic missiles [SLBMs]). Both the ICBM and the SLBM reached their respective targets after having traveled distances of more than 6,000 kilometers. Less …
About a year and a half ago, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) entered into force. The Obama Administration ensured the American people and the Senate that the treaty would contribute to strategic stability between the United States and the Russian Federation. The treaty was touted as a …
The Global Zero Nuclear Policy Commission Report recently proposed that the United States cut the total number of its nuclear warheads to 900 from today’s level of about 1,700. In his most recent blog, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs visiting fellow Peter Huessy argues that this nuclear posture would …
The Obama Administration’s “reset” policy with the Russian Federation is failing in yet another important aspect of this relationship: its predictability regarding the development of each country’s respective nuclear forces. This is despite the Obama Administration touting the New Strategic Arms Control Treaty (New START) as one of the greatest …
On October 24, at the Warren Air Force base in Wyoming, the United States Air Force lost communication with a sizeable portion of America’s nuclear deterrent: a squadron of 50 nuclear-armed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). In the past, this type of disruption was rare and limited to individual …
