DoD Set to Kick Off Major Nuclear Scrub
Bryan Bender | Politico
The Biden administration is kicking off its new Nuclear Posture Review next week, a top Navy admiral confirmed Wednesday, with the goal of completing a reassessment of the atomic arsenal in roughly six months, our colleagues Quint Forgey and Paul McLeary report for Pros. The review will update the Trump administration’s 2018 blueprint and is viewed by many arms control experts and disarmament advocates as an opportunity to curtail some of the ambitions of the Obama and Trump eras, including a new low-yield warhead and plans for a naval cruise missile.
Iran Talks Seen Withering Until August as Oil Market Heats Up
Jonathan Tirone | Bloomberg
Nuclear talks between world powers and Iran aren’t likely to resume until after the Islamic Republic installs its new president next month, all but eliminating the chances of an early resurrection of their accord struck six years ago Wednesday and a jump in Iranian oil exports. A seventh round of negotiations in Vienna is expected to convene around mid-August, according to two officials familiar with the schedule, who asked not to be identified in line with diplomatic rules. A third European attache, who also requested to remain unidentified, said Iran was only expected to resume talks once Ebrahim Raisi has been sworn in as president early next month.
US Envoy Warns China ‘Looking At’ New Nuclear Technologies
Jamey Keaten | Associated Press
A U.S. diplomat focusing on disarmament said Thursday that China is “looking at” developing naval and aerial autonomous nuclear weapons systems, warning any such development could disrupt strategic stability. Ambassador Robert Wood, the U.S. envoy to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, said China hasn’t developed or been able to weaponize the technology yet. But his comments suggested that China is interested in such so-called “exotic nukes” like nuclear-powered underwater drones and nuclear-powered cruise missiles being developed by Russia.
Israel To Seek ‘Advanced’ Tech From US in Case of New Iran Deal
Arie Egozi | Breaking Defense
Should the US and Iran reach a new nuclear agreement, Israel will request new military compensation from Washington — including technologies that have not previously been exported to Israel, sources say. Israel is weighing a request for “advanced systems” that would enable a preemptive strike on Iran should intelligence show Tehran has crossed the nuclear enrichment threshold needed to create a bomb, sources here tell Breaking Defense.
Warhead for Air Force's First Hypersonic Missile Tested for the First Time
Joseph Trevithick | The Drive
The U.S. Air Force says that it has conducted its first test of the high-explosive blast-fragmentation warhead that will go inside the boost-glide vehicle that sits at the tip of its AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile, or ARRW. This comes as the service is expected to try again to conduct a live-fire test of the weapon’s rocket booster later this month, following its first failed attempt back in April.
The U.S. Says It Can Answer Cyberattacks With Nuclear Weapons. That’s Lunacy.
Scott D. Sagan and Allen S. Weiner | Washington Post
Over the July 4 weekend, the Russian-based cybercriminal organization REvil claimed credit for hacking into as many as 1,500 companies in what has been called the largest ransomware attack to date. . . . These incidents were bad enough. But imagine a much worse cyberattack, one that not only disabled pipelines but turned off the power at hundreds of U.S. hospitals, wreaked havoc on air-traffic-control systems and shut down the electrical grid in major cities in the dead of winter. The grisly cost might be counted not just in lost dollars but in the deaths of many thousands of people. Under current U.S. nuclear doctrine, developed during the Trump administration, the president would be given the military option to launch nuclear weapons at Russia, China or North Korea if that country was determined to be behind such an attack.