Pentagon Tests First Land-Based Cruise Missile in a Post-INF Treaty World
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
The United States has tested a new ground-based cruise missile that is capable covering 500 kilometers in range, less than three weeks after officially exiting an arms treaty that banned such systems. The test occurred 2:30 PM Pacific time Sunday at San Nicolas Island, California, according to a Pentagon announcement. The missile “exited its ground mobile launcher and accurately impacted its target after more than 500 kilometers of flight,” the release said. American officials have stressed they do not plan on building a nuclear ground-based cruise missile capability, but Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has said his department will “fully pursue the development of these ground-launched conventional missiles as a prudent response to Russia’s actions and as part of the joint force’s broader portfolio of conventional strike options.” Imagery of the test shows the weapon was launched from a Mark 41 Vertical Launch System, the same launcher used in the Aegis Ashore missile defense system. That is notable, as Russia has often claimed the Mk41 presence in Europe as a violation of the INF treaty, with the belief that the Aegis Ashore systems in Poland and Romania could be converted to offensive systems.
Nuclear Monitoring Stations Went Mysteriously Quiet After Russian Missile Facility Explosion
Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne | CNN
Four Russia-based nuclear monitoring stations that monitor radioactive particles in the atmosphere have mysteriously gone quiet after an August 8 explosion at a Russian missile testing facility, an explosion that has sparked confusion and concerns about possible increases in radiation levels, according to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. The two Russian radionuclide stations, called Dubna and Kirov, stopped transmitting data within two days of the explosion, the organization said. In addition, a senior CTBTO official tells CNN that stations in Bilibino and Zalesovo went silent on August 13. The mysterious disruption to the radionuclide stations, which track radioactive particles in the atmosphere, comes as Russian officials have given contrasting accounts about the level of radiation released in the explosion. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that there is no risk of increased radiation levels.
Pompeo: N.K. Talks Haven’t Resumed as Quickly as Hoped
Yonhap News Agency
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that denuclearization talks with North Korea have not resumed as quickly as hoped. “We haven't gotten back to the table as quickly as we hoped, but we've been pretty clear all along, we knew there would be bumps along the way,” Pompeo said in an interview with CBS, according to Reuters. Washington's top envoy to the talks, Stephen Biegun, has been in Seoul since Tuesday to meet with South Korean officials over the denuclearization effort. Speculation has risen that he could also travel to North Korea to meet with his North Korean counterparts during his three-day stay in Seoul.
U.S. Officials Expecting Iran to Launch Rocket in Coming Days
Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne | CNN
The US government is in possession of classified imagery that shows Iran is getting ready to launch a rocket as soon as next week that the Iranians claim will put a peaceful satellite into orbit, but that the US sees as furthering Tehran's missile development, multiple US officials tell CNN. While Tehran claims the launch is for peaceful purposes, it's a program that utilizes the same technology that would be needed for an intercontinental ballistic missile -- the type that could someday strike the US. Commercial images of the launch site provided to CNN by Planet Labs Inc. and the Middlebury Institute show increased activity around the area, including the presence of vehicles and shipping containers believed to be involved in the launch. “It looks like they're getting ready for a launch,” Dave Schmerler, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told CNN.
Iran Planning Powerful, New Generation Centrifuges to Boost Enrichment
Radio Farda
The Islamic Republic of Iran is planning to work on introducing a new generation of uranium enriching centrifuges, a lawmaker told local media on Sunday August 18. The IR-8 Centrifuges are 20 times more powerful than the first-generation equipment Iran has been using for uranium enrichment. Hamid Reza Hajibabaee quoted the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Chief Ali Akbar Salehi as telling parliamentarians that Iran has been producing IR-6 and IR-7 centrifuges so far, but it now plans to produce IR-8. But it is not clear how many IR-8 and centrifuges Iran plans to deploy eventually, considering limitations imposed by the 2015 nuclear agreement. Salehi is quoted as saying that so far they have assembled 20 IR-8 centrifuges.
‘No First Use’ Nuke Policy Isn’t Dead, But Losing Sanctity
Christopher Clary and Vipin Narang | Hindustan Times
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh decided to mark the one year anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death by making some news. He not only went to Pokhran, the site of each of India’s nuclear tests, to visit “the area which witnessed Atal ji’s firm resolve to make India a nuclear power”, but also to remind everyone of Vajpayee’s commitment to the doctrine of nuclear no first use. That doctrine, Singh assured his listeners, had been “strictly adhered to” up until now, but he then ominously emphasized, “What happens in future depends on the circumstances.” This was not a formal change in doctrine or policy, yet, but it is an unmistakable and remarkable policy statement. Rajnath Singh was telling the world that while India intended no first use today, nothing binds it to doing so tomorrow. In so doing, Rajnath Singh was in fact saying that a commitment that originated with Vajpayee wasn’t much of a commitment at all.