Russia’s Nuclear Modernization Drive Is Only a Success on Paper
Maxim Starchak | Carnegie Politika
At first glance, it might seem as if Russia’s nuclear modernization drive has been successful. Notably, last year, the proportion of modern (i.e. non-Soviet) arms in the arsenal of the Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN) increased from 85% to 88%...Less progress, however, has been made with the Sarmat missile system, which is supposed to replace the Soviet-era Voevoda. President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and Yuri Borisov, the head of state-owned space corporation Roscosmos, all promised the Sarmat system would be deployed by the end of 2023. But not one Sarmat has yet been loaded into a silo, a step originally scheduled for 2021.
U.S. Monitoring N.K. Nuke Test Possibility, Pursuing MDL Tension Reduction: Pentagon Official
Song Sang-ho | Yonhap News Agency
The United States is monitoring the possibility of what would be North Korea's seventh nuclear test, while working with South Korea to "effectively" manage tensions along the inter-Korean border, a senior Pentagon official has said. Vipin Narang, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, made the remarks in a written interview with Yonhap News Agency this week, stressing that the U.S., in tandem with South Korea, is "postured and prepared for any eventuality," amid growing North Korean military threats.
Yoon Calls North Korea ‘Irrational Group’ for Developing Nuclear Weapons
Jeongmin Kim | NK News
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol slammed North Korea as an “irrational group” for developing nuclear weapons and rejecting the concept of shared Korean ethnicity, speaking in back-to-back high-level defense meetings on Wednesday. Yoon’s remarks came a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared that South Korea is no longer a compatriot but a warring, foreign state that Pyongyang will prepare to one day subjugate. “The North Korean regime is an irrational group that has legalized the preemptive use of nuclear weapons — the only one in the world to do so,” Yoon stated in a keynote remark at the annual Central Integrated Defense Council (CIDC) meeting.
Missile Defense Interceptor Competition Enters Critical Design Phase
Jen Judson | Defense News
Both teams competing to develop a new homeland missile defense interceptor for the Missile Defense Agency have entered the critical design phase with Northrop Grumman announcing it had passed its preliminary design review, according to Jan. 31 statement…The teams are now one year ahead of the original contract date for PDR completion and Brown said its PDR wrapped up successfully one month ahead of an established accelerated plan.