Sinpo South Shipyard: Is the GORAE Set to Sail?
38 North
Commercial satellite imagery from December 9 of North Korea’s Sinpo South Shipyard suggests that the GORAE-class experimental ballistic missile submarine and submersible test barge may have recently been or are preparing to go to sea, although it is impossible to determine whether that would be related to an impending missile test or normal maintenance activities. Imagery is not yet available from after a recently reported “cold launch.” The December 9 image indicates that previous work on the protective berm at the test stand is complete, making it capable of testing missiles larger than North Korea’s KN-11 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) tested in August. As previously concluded, a shipbuilding program is possibly also underway in the construction
India Stokes Nuclear Weapon Concern in Bid for Atomic Cartel
Jonathan Tirone | Bloomberg
India’s bid to join the elite club of nations that control nuclear trade continues to stoke concern among arms-control advisers, who warn that membership may undermine rules designed to cap the spread of atomic weapons. Members of the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group meet this week in Vienna to discuss nine general commitments India and other countries outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty would need to make in order to receive the fullest atomic trading privileges, according to a two-page document prepared for the meeting and seen by Bloomberg News. The meetings are informal and a official plenary won’t be convened, according to an NSG spokesman.
Status-Neutral Arms Control: Promises and Pitfalls
Ulrich Kühn, Sergi Kapanadze, Wolfgang Richter, Wolfgang Zellner
The success of the Helsinki process in the 1970s was possible due to a willingness to accept the territorial status quo in Europe. By contrast, the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union has led to the creation of a territorial reality characterized by new states with uncertain security status, separatist armed conflicts and ethnic strifes.
Spokesman: Iran to Inject Gas into Advanced Home-Made IR8 Centrifuges Soon
Fars News Agency
Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi announced that the country would inject gas into its latest generation of centrifuge machines, IR8, in the next few weeks. "The IR8 tests have come to an end and they will go into the stage of gas injection in the next few weeks," Kamalvandi told reporters in a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.
Pentagon to Create Hypersonic Missile Defense Program
Bill Gertz | Washington Free Beacon
The Pentagon is being forced to set up a dedicated program targeting the growing threat of high-speed maneuvering missiles under development by China and Russia. A section of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017, passed by Congress last week, requires the Missile Defense Agency to create the program focused on countering the emerging hypersonic missile threat.
N. Korea in Process of Developing Long-Endurance Aerial Drone: Gov't
Yonhap News
North Korea is in the process of developing a long-endurance aerial drone with greater capabilities, the government said Sunday. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is undergoing flight testing is larger than those currently in service in the North, an official source said. Last week the North's Chosun Central TV revealed that a new type of UAV is under development.