Ideas

Don’t Kill the Nuclear Cruise Missile

The CBO’s recent cost-cutting option discounts the loss of capability and risks of cancelling the next-generation ALCM.

Ideas

The Most Dangerous Man in the World

It is dawning on Congress that no one can stop President Trump from ordering a nuclear attack.

Policy

Congress Is Concerned About Who Gets to Launch Nuclear Bombs

Here are three questions to consider during and after lawmakers hear testimony on nuclear authority.

Threats

Can Two Nuclear Powers Fight a Conventional War?

The Pentagon just wargamed that scenario as part of its effort to determine what it needs for 21st-century deterrence.

Threats

US Air Force Chief Helps Young Airman Locate Family In Puerto Rico

After going a month without hearing from his hurricane-stricken family, Sr. Airman Malcom Soto-Gonzalez got a hand from an unexpected source.

Threats

EXCLUSIVE: US Preparing to Put Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert

If the order comes, the B-52s will return to a ready-to-fly posture not seen since the Cold War.

Policy

The Questions Raised By Trump's Iran Deal Decision

The U.S. will stick to the nuclear agreement—for now.

Threats

Trump Administration Gambles On Iran Nuclear Deal

White House staffers say the president will decertify the 2015 seven-party agreement, introducing uncertainty and worrying arms control watchers.

Science & Tech

North Korea Is Testing Not Just Bombs, But the Entire Global Nuclear Monitoring System

It is a miracle of statecraft and science that this collaborative international infrastructure has actually come into being.

Ideas

Why Tactical Nuclear Weapons Are Still A Thing

In the debate over low-yield nukes, opposing camps are largely talking past each other. Here are some thoughts about why they remain necessary.

Science & Tech

The Folly of Tactical Nuclear Weapons

Some soothsayers say they boost deterrence. But the point of deterrence is to have no mushroom clouds, not new, tailor-made ones.

Science & Tech

3 Questions: America’s Next Nuclear-Missile Submarine

Built to deter America's enemies for the next 60 years, the Navy's new missile sub is slated to be the U.S. military’s third most-expensive program — ever.

Science & Tech

The Russians Just Test-Fired an ICBM

Both Washington and Moscow are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, but military leaders worry that Russia is ahead.

Ideas

No, We Cannot Shoot Down North Korea’s Missiles

It's time national leaders speak realistically about missile defense.

Threats

‘Is There Something Going On?’: On Scene at STRATCOM As North Korea Launches Missile

The head of U.S. Strategic Command is whisked to his operations center as a missile flies over Japan.

Business

At US Nuclear Weapons Base, Mattis Signals Support for Triad

But the U.S. defense secretary stopped short of endorsing all types of new nuclear weapons in development.

Policy

Amid North Korea Tension, Mattis Heads to US Nuclear Weapons Bases

The U.S. defense secretary will inspect American ICBMs, then visit the military command that would lead a nuclear war.

Ideas

What the Iran Deal Can Teach America About North Korea

If credibility depends in part on a country’s willingness to follow through on military threats, surely it also depends on whether it abides by diplomatic commitments.

Ideas

Building an H-Bomb in Plain Sight

Usually countries build nuclear weapons in secret—but not North Korea.

Ideas

The Clear Logic of the Latest North Korean Test

Kim Jong Un has a predictable purpose and a plan.