Trump Administration Orders Assessment on Bolstering Nuclear Warheads as Talks With Russia Stall
Daniel Lippman, Bryan Bender, and Lara Seligman | Politico
The Trump administration has asked the military to assess how quickly it could pull nuclear weapons out of storage and load them onto bombers and submarines if an arms control treaty with Russia is allowed to expire in February, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The request to U.S. Strategic Command in Nebraska is part of a strategy to pressure Moscow into renegotiating the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty before the U.S. presidential election, the people said. In making the request, the Trump administration wants to underscore that it is serious about letting the treaty lapse if Russia fails to meet U.S. demands. The negotiating team is leery that Russia is dragging out the talks in the hope that Joe Biden — who has pledged to extend New START under what Moscow believes will be more favorable terms than what this White House is offering — wins the election.
Trump Team Weighs New Sanctions on Iran’s Financial Sector
Nick Wadhams and Saleha Mohsin | Bloomberg
The Trump administration is considering fresh sanctions to sever Iran’s economy from the outside world except in limited circumstances, by targeting more than a dozen banks and labeling the entire financial sector off-limits, three people familiar with the matter said. The move would effectively leave Iran -- which has seen its economy crushed by the loss of oil sales and most other trade thanks to existing American restrictions -- isolated from the global financial system, slashing the few remaining legal linkages it has and making it more dependent on informal or illicit trade. The proposed sanctions would have two objectives, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations: close one of the few remaining financial loopholes allowing Iran’s government to earn revenue, and stymie Democrat Joe Biden’s promise to re-enter a 2015 nuclear deal if he wins the presidency in November.
Discussions on U.S. Intermediate Missile Deployment in S. Korea Premature: U.S. Envoy
Oh Seok-min and Kim Seung-yeon | Yonhap News Agency
The United States is not ready yet to talk with allies about deployment of its specific military capabilities, a senior U.S. official said Monday, as Washington is considering deploying intermediate-range missiles in East Asia to counterbalance China's growing capabilities. Marshall Billingslea, special U.S. presidential envoy for arms control, also said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency and other local media outlets in Seoul that North Korea's recent apology for the killing of a South Korean fisheries official is a good first step toward resolving the issue. Billingslea arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day visit. The trip came as the U.S. has been considering deploying intermediate-range missiles in Asia to counter China after withdrawing from the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) last year amid speculation that South Korea could be one of the candidate sites.
Japan Lawmakers Review Three Proposals for New Missile Defense System
Japan Times
The government presented three options Thursday for the country's new missile defense system, after it scrapped in June a plan to deploy Aegis Ashore land-based interceptors. The options are building a destroyer vessel armed with the entire interceptor system including radars, deploying the system at a large-scale offshore facility similar to an oil rig or mounting the system on a private vessel such as a tanker. The destroyer option does not exclude the construction of a conventional Aegis guided missile ship. The possibility of the Ground Self-Defense Force taking charge of operating the offshore missile interception system instead of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, which is facing a crew member shortage, cannot be ruled out. The alternative ideas were presented at relevant meetings held separately by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito.
Iran Releases Video of Third-Generation Naval Ballistic Missile, Claims Extended Range
David Brennan | Newsweek
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has released a video of its newest naval ballistic missile, which state media claims has doubled the service's strike range at sea. The state-backed Press TV channel published a video of the third generation Zolfaqar-e Basir missile on Monday, following IRGC commander Major General Hossein Salami's announcement of the weapon on Sunday. Press TV said the ballistic missile has a range of some 434 miles—more than double that of Iran's previous generation Khalij-e Fars and Hormuz naval ballistic missiles. The strategically important Persian Gulf is around 210 miles wide at its widest point, meaning the Zolfaqar-e Basir will theoretically be able to hit enemy targets anywhere in the seaway. Salami said Sunday that the missile is proof of Iran's resilient military research and development, which like the rest of the country has been under the pressure of reimposed U.S. sanctions since President Donald Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May 2018.
DoD Seeks Legislative Help for ICBM Replacement Construction Costs
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
The U.S. Defense Department hopes Congress will approve a change in how it funds the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile in order to avoid what the department views as unnecessary contract bureaucracy. Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, Pentagon acquisition head Ellen Lord said the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program was moving along as planned, but she indicated that a military construction issue remains unsolved. “We do have a lot of money allocated through the MILCON [military construction] methodology, and whereas we have 500 separate items that need to be updated, that would be rather onerous to have 500 different or so projects,” Lord said. “We’re looking at consolidating that, to streamlining it.”