A top U.S. military official last week branded as "facetious" congressional concerns that the launch of a proposed long-range conventional missile might be mistaken for a nuclear salvo.
The U.S. Defense Department is leaving open the possibility of developing a conventional long-range missile for deployment on submarines, despite stern congressional warnings against fielding anything that might be mistaken for a nuclear weapon during launch.
New U.S. figures suggest that the size of the Chinese nuclear arsenal appears to has increased by about one-third since 2006, according to the Federation of American Scientists. The boost is linked to China's deployment of a new generation of solid-fuel cruise missiles and ICBMs.
A new military competition threatens to accelerate international efforts to dominate space, four experts agreed yesterday at a major nonproliferation conference here. Whether the race will end in chaos or in concord remains to be seen.
A nuclear device assembled by terrorists is likely to have a "relatively low yield," much smaller than the 10-kiloton weapon dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, according to the chief nuclear scientist with the U.S. Homeland Security Department. Nevertheless, even a small nuclear explosion would probably be viewed as a "success" by any nonstate actor.
Drugs intended to be used as nonlethal weapons are almost certain to kill people if used during a crisis, the British Medical Association said in a recent report.
A U.S. Senate panel has called for ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in the current version of the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said yesterday.
A National Academy of Sciences panel has recommended that Congress withhold production and deployment funding for a Defense Department program to modify Trident missiles to carry conventional warheads.
The U.S. has conducted the first test detonation of a massive bomb designed to crack hardened bunkers, like suspected military facilities in Iran and North Korea.
The United States has made little progress in developing a conventional "prompt global strike" capability, leaving the military few options short of a nuclear attack in certain scenarios, according to the head of U.S. Strategic Command.