Defense & Military

On Monday, the United Kingdom’s defense minister said the government plans to ultimately field 12 SSN-AUKUS attack submarines. Minster of Defense John Healey’s assessment came in the foreword of a new defense review report. Under the tripartite AUKUS agreement, the United States and U.K. agree to help Australia field nuclear-powered attack submarines, starting with at […]

China could have 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles by 2035, an increase from 400 now, according to a Defense Intelligence Agency single page unclassified graphic released  in mid-May. The graphic illustrates potential threats to the U.S. Homeland that the Golden Dome would guard against. The assessment, called “Golden Dome for America: Current and Future Missile Threats […]

Ukraine’s Pavutina–“Spider Web”–operation points to budget decisions ahead for the U.S. Air Force in hardening its bases in the United States and abroad, especially in the Indo-Pacific, where analysts have pointed to the significant kamikaze drone threat. More than 100 small quadcopter kamikaze drones hidden in trucks took off on cue on Sunday to destroy […]

The Department of Defense, in an online source sought notice May 29, requested industry responses for demilitarizing the Boeing LGM-30 Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile motors. The notice on procurement site sam.gov said the Space Systems Command’s Rocket Systems Launch Program is collecting information on vendor capabilities for demilitarization of motors through a method called […]

Ukraine’s Pavutina–“Spider Web”–operation points to budget decisions ahead for the U.S. Air Force in hardening its bases in the United States and abroad, especially in the Indo-Pacific, where analysts have pointed to the significant kamikaze drone threat. More than 100 small quadcopter kamikaze drones hidden in trucks took off on cue on Sunday to destroy […]

On Monday, the United Kingdom’s defense minister said the government plans to ultimately field 12 SSN-AUKUS attack submarines. Minster of Defense John Healey’s assessment came in the foreword of a new defense review report. Under the tripartite AUKUS agreement, the United States and U.K. agree to help Australia field nuclear-powered attack submarines, starting with at […]

The Department of Defense, in an online source sought notice May 29, requested industry responses for demilitarizing the Boeing LGM-30 Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile motors. The notice on procurement site sam.gov said the Space Systems Command’s Rocket Systems Launch Program is collecting information on vendor capabilities for demilitarization of motors through a method called […]

China could have 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles by 2035, an increase from 400 now, according to a Defense Intelligence Agency single page unclassified graphic released  in mid-May. The graphic illustrates potential threats to the U.S. Homeland that the Golden Dome would guard against. The assessment, called “Golden Dome for America: Current and Future Missile Threats […]

Ukraine took credit for a coordinated drone strike on Russian air fields on Sunday, destroying around one third of Moscow’s nuclear triad, media reported. “An absolutely brilliant result,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the website X Sunday about operation “Spider Web.” “A result achieved solely by Ukraine. One year, six months, and nine days […]

As expected, President Donald Trump last week signed a set of executive orders designed to speed licensing of nuclear power reactors, both commercially and on federal installations, limit review by an independent nuclear regulator and beef up  the industry’s U.S. industrial base. Here is a thumbnail overview of each of the May 23 orders.  Overhauling […]

A Kremlin spokesperson said last week that President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome plan could force both Washington and Moscow to resume nuclear arms control talks, media reported. “In the foreseeable future, the very course of events requires the resumption of contacts on issues of strategic stability,” Dmitry Peskov told Reuters.  Trump and Secretary of Defense […]

The percentage of U.S. Air Force bombers available for missions is in the 50s—a trend consistent with service-wide aircraft availability statistics, Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command, said last week. Such availability takes into account aircraft in depot, while mission capability rates are typically higher, as they do not count […]

Ukraine has protested to the International Atomic Energy Agency about Russia’s building power lines from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to Russia’s main power grid, a Kyiv official told a Ukrainian news agency. Yuri Vitrenko, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna, told the news outlet Wednesday that Kyiv sent a […]

In an aim to use nuclear energy technology for defense-related purposes, President Donald Trump’s May 23 executive order wants advanced nuclear reactors put on military installations without consulting the National Environmental Policy Act. Trump’s executive order entitled “Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security,” one of four nuclear-themed executive orders released last week, said […]

Ukraine has protested to the International Atomic Energy Agency about Russia’s building power lines from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to Russia’s main power grid, a Kyiv official told a Ukrainian news agency. Yuri Vitrenko, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna, told the news outlet Wednesday that Kyiv sent a […]

The percentage of U.S. Air Force bombers available for missions is in the 50s—a trend consistent with service-wide aircraft availability statistics, Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command, said last week. Such availability takes into account aircraft in depot, while mission capability rates are typically higher, as they do not count […]

A Kremlin spokesperson said last week that President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome plan could force both Washington and Moscow to resume nuclear arms control talks, media reported. “In the foreseeable future, the very course of events requires the resumption of contacts on issues of strategic stability,” Dmitry Peskov told Reuters.  Trump and Secretary of Defense […]

Breaking: Trump orders seek to speed reactor construction on commercial, defense sites As expected, President Donald Trump Friday signed a set of executive orders designed to speed licensing of nuclear power reactors, both commercially and on federal installations, limit review by an independent nuclear regulator and beef up  the industry’s U.S. industrial base. Here is […]

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine offers a real-world example of military targeting of nuclear plants, and the issue requires more attention, a National Academies board heard last week in Washington, D.C. A war-gaming study to explore this threat was done recently by Henry Sokolski, who heads the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. He discussed the issue […]

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine offers a real-world example of military targeting of nuclear plants, and the issue requires more attention, a National Academies board heard last week in Washington, D.C. A war-gaming study to explore this threat was done recently by Henry Sokolski, who heads the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. He discussed the issue […]

A team from the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., according to an AFGSC press release. The missile was equipped with a “single Mark-21 High Fidelity Re-entry Vehicle,” the release said. The re-entry vehicle traveled […]

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine offers a real-world example of military targeting of nuclear plants, and the issue requires more attention, a National Academies board heard last week in Washington, D.C. A war-gaming study to explore this threat was done recently by Henry Sokolski, who heads the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. He discussed the issue […]

A team from the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., according to an AFGSC press release. The missile was equipped with a “single Mark-21 High Fidelity Re-entry Vehicle,” the release said. The re-entry vehicle traveled […]

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine offers a real-world example of military targeting of nuclear plants, and the issue requires more attention, a National Academies board heard last week in Washington, D.C. A war-gaming study to explore this threat was done recently by Henry Sokolski, who heads the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. He discussed the issue […]

Vanderberg Space Force Base announced that the U.S. military will test-launch an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in Santa Barbara County, Calif., Wednesday May 21. The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) said it will launch the nuclear missile between 12:01 a.m. and 5:01 a.m. Pacific Times to “demonstrate the readiness of U.S. nuclear […]

Top Senate defense appropriator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said this week the Donald Trump administration’s defense budget outline, which factors in planned reconciliation spending to achieve a $1 trillion topline, “fails” to meet the required level of investment. McConnell Tuesday criticized the decision to include anticipated reconciliation funds as a “budgetary sleight of hand.” “American politicians […]

The Senate Tuesday voted 52-to-44 to confirm James Danly, a former member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to be deputy secretary of energy. The vote was along party lines with four senators, two Democrats and two Republicans, not voting. Danly, an attorney and U.S. Army veteran from Tennessee, was nominated to the position by […]

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, spurred Chinese military researchers to consider the risks toward nuclear facilities, according to a study by China’s People’s Liberation Army. Beijing brought the total number of commercial reactors, both operational and under construction, to 102 last month, according to Beijing publication […]

Top Senate defense appropriator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday the Donald Trump administration’s defense budget outline, which factors in planned reconciliation spending to achieve a $1 trillion topline, “fails” to meet the required level of investment. McConnell criticized the decision to include anticipated reconciliation funds as a “budgetary sleight of hand.” “American politicians have criticized […]

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, spurred Chinese military researchers to consider the risks toward nuclear facilities, according to a study by China’s People’s Liberation Army. Beijing brought the total number of commercial reactors, both operational and under construction, to 102 last month, according to Beijing publication […]