Bruce Blair surveys the dangers from Russian terrorists acquiring "loose nukes" or other nuclear material and he argues for a more comprehensive plan to reduce the risks. He also introduces a new threat, that cyber-terrorists might hack into Russia's ailing nuclear early warning network and fool it in thinking an attack had taken place.
The risk of a Russian accidental nuclear launch is increasing due to their deteriorating early warning network. A U.S.-Russian program to improve joint early warning capabilities has stalled due to financial and legal issues.
The United States and Russia could take thousands of strategic nuclear warheads off hair-trigger alert by introducing an early warning system of sensors that monitor each other's land-based intercontinental missiles, according to former senator Sam Nunn, who once was chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
A leading space scientist is warning that small asteroids from space that detonate like bombs as they crash into Earth's atmosphere might accidentally set off a nuclear war.
M. V. Ramana discusses the reasons why the nuclear early warning systems established by the U.S. and Soviet Union during the Cold War are inappropriate for India and Pakistan.
The United States and Russia are close to finalizing a memorandum of understanding on jointly building and operating two experimental satellites to track ballistic missile launches.
The editors of Florida Today argue that the U.S. defense department should share its early warning data with new nuclear powers to help prevent miscalculations caused by meteor impacts.
The U.S. has agreed to conditionally share its early warning missile data with Taiwan.
Scientists warn that even small asteroids that explode in earth's atmospher pose a threat because they could be mistaken as a nuclear weapon explosion by countries that lack the technology to tell the difference. They point to a June 6th incident that could have created a miscalculation during a tense period in the India/Pakistan conflict.
In recent years, the Department of Defense has been working to provide data about asteroid strikes to nations potentially under missile attack and to the scientific community; however, it takes several weeks for the data to be released since much of it is gathered from classified systems. Brigadier General Simon P. Worden has recently suggested that a NEO warning center be established that can assess and release this data as soon as possible to all interested parties while ensuring sensitive data is safeguarded.