Current Nuclear Weapons Development

I think it’s pretty clear the UK is only talking about Trident missiles being uploaded, not new system development.
 
Josh_TN said:
I think it’s pretty clear the UK is only talking about Trident missiles being uploaded, not new system development.
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They wouldn't reveal that they are thinking of such an option yet. First comes capacity.
 
www.telegraph.co.uk

Iran concealing elements of nuclear activities, officials fear

New intelligence reveals "hidden" machinery used to enrich uranium
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk

Iran concealing elements of nuclear activities, officials fear
Iran is deliberately concealing key components of its nuclear programme from UN inspectors that can be used for producing nuclear weapons, according to the latest reports received by Western intelligence officials.

The equipment being hidden from UN inspectors includes machinery, pumps and spare parts for centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium to weapons grade.
In addition, materials such as carbon fibre, which can be used in the production of advanced centrifuges, are also being stored at secret sites in Iran administered by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has overall responsibility for Iran’s nuclear programme.

Intelligence officials believe the material, which is supposed to be declared to UN inspectors under the terms of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, is being stored in 75 containers.

The containers are regularly transported around the country to sites administered by the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran (AEOI). According to recent images collected by intelligence satellites, some of the containers were stored at the AEOI’s uranium conversion facility at Isfahan.

Under the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that former US President Barack Obama negotiated with Tehran, Iran is required to make a full disclosure of all the equipment and materials related to Iran’s nuclear activities.

But UN inspectors, who are supposed to make regular assessments of Iran’s nuclear facilities, have accused Iran of deliberately concealing key elements of its nuclear activities.

Last year Britain joined the US, Germany and France in condemning Iran for denying access to two key nuclear sites.

Since then the Iranian majlis, or parliament, has passed a resolution ordering Iran’s nuclear scientists to begin enriching uranium to 20 percent, far beyond the four percent limit agreed under the JCPOA. They have also banned inspectors from making further inspections.

“The new revelations that Iran is trying to conceal vital elements of its nuclear programme from the outside world shows that Tehran has no intention of complying with its international obligations under the terms of the nuclear deal,” commented a senior Western intelligence source.

“It is yet another indication that the regime remains committed to acquiring nuclear weapons.”

Tehran has consistently denied accusations that it is trying to acquire a nuclear weapons arsenal, although US intelligence officials have concluded that Iran had an active nuclear weapons programme until 2003.

With tensions mounting between Washington and Tehran in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal, there are now serious concerns that Iran has resumed work on developing nuclear weapons.

A senior Iranian official last month said that Iran was prepared to recommence work on its nuclear programme unless punitive US economic sanctions were lifted.

US President Joe Biden has indicated he is keen to revive the nuclear deal, but only on condition that Iran stops breaking the terms of the nuclear accord.

Accusations that Iran has deliberately concealed key elements of its nuclear programme have been circulating in intelligence circles since the early 2000s, when the existence of the Natanz enrichment facility was first revealed by Iranian dissidents.

Intelligence officials believe some of the equipment now being held in the storage containers was already in Iran’s possession prior to the 2015 nuclear deal, while other components have been acquired on the black market in violation of the accord.

Much of the equipment was being stored at warehouses in Isfahan until recently, when it was moved to other, unknown facilities operated by the Revolutionary Guard.

Iran has been identified as one of several countries posing a threat to Britain’s security in the Government’s latest review of defence and foreign policy, which was published last week.

Tensions between London and Tehran have increased in recent weeks over the regime’s treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman who has just completed a five year jail term imposed for what are widely regarded as trumped up spying charges.

Despite finishing her sentence earlier this month, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is now facing fresh charges of spreading anti-regime propaganda, which could result in another prison sentence if she is found guilty.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has denounced Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s “cruel and intolerable” treatment at the hands of the ayatollahs, and called for her immediate release.
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The US has spent $4 Trillion on COVID relief measures IN THE LAST 12 months with no media oversight other than stories it’s not enough. Now watch in wonder as $1.7 Trillion over 30 years is an unfathomable amount of money that will bankrupt the nation.

Also precovid spending trends would have total government spending over that same 30 years in excess of $200 Trillion making this 85/100th of one percent. Finally modernization is estimated to be only $700 billion of this (you’d still have to maintain the unmodernized Triad) or 35/100th of one percent of total spending.
 
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www.reuters.com

North Korea missile launch tests Biden, alarms Japan ahead of Olympics

North Korea launched two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan on Thursday, underscoring steady progess in its weapons programme and ramping up pressure on the new U.S. administration as it reviews North Korea policy.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com

www.reuters.com

Reaction to North Korea's ballistic missile launch

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan on Thursday, Japan's prime minister said, fuelling tensions ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and ramping up pressure on the new Biden administration in Washington.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
www.reuters.com

UPDATE 1-China nuclear reprocessing to create stockpiles of weapons-level materials -experts

China's push to develop fuel for a new generation of nuclear power reactors will produce large amounts of materials that could be diverted to making nuclear weapons, non-proliferation experts said on Thursday.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com

I still stand by my prediction, at some point in the near future China will announce its intent to be “an equal partner” amongst the leading nuclear nations and will seek “only to match, for our own self defense” the arsenals of Russia and the US.
 
www.heritage.org

Responding to Troubling Trends in Russia’s Nuclear Weapons Program

Among a number of international contenders, including China and North Korea, Russia is arguably the country that is most actively developing new nuclear weapons and delivery systems. With at least six strategic projects unveiled in recent years, including a new intercontinental ballistic missile...
www.heritage.org www.heritage.org
Russia is arguably the country that is most actively developing new nuclear weapons and delivery systems. With at least six strategic projects unveiled in recent years, including a new intercontinental ballistic missile, three hypersonic vehicles, a nuclear-powered underwater drone, and a nuclear-powered cruise missile, Russia poses a number of new challenges for the United States, NATO, and international security.
 
tass.ru

Источник сообщил, что работа по созданию ракеты "Кедр" начнется в 2023-2024 годах

По его словам, ракеты придут на замену находящимся на вооружении Ракетных войск стратегического назначения комплексам "Ярс"
tass.ru tass.ru

The source said that work on the creation of the Kedr rocket will begin in 2023-2024

According to him, the missiles will come to replace the Yars complexes in service with the Strategic Missile Forces.

MOSCOW, April 2. / TASS /. Development work (R&D) on the creation of the newest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) "Kedr" will begin at the turn of 2023-2024. A source in the military-industrial complex told TASS about it.

"Research work (R&D) on Kedr is funded under the current state armaments program until 2027. R&D will begin in 2023-2024," he said.

According to him, the Kedr solid-propellant missiles will replace the Yars complexes in service with the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) at the turn of 2030. The new ICBMs, like the Yars, will be both mobile and stationary (mine), the agency's source added.
 
responsiblestatecraft.org

Hawks up the ante: China is now a nuclear threat, too - Responsible Statecraft

What's clear from the hawks overheated rhetoric is they desperately want there to be an arms race. To what end, we can only guess.
responsiblestatecraft.org responsiblestatecraft.org
As part of their campaign to agitate for intensified rivalry with the Chinese government, China hawks are feigning interest in arms control so that they can engage in reckless fearmongering about a mostly imaginary Chinese nuclear buildup.

According to U.S. government estimates, China possesses fewer than 300 nuclear weapons, and there is no reason to think that they are looking to increase that number significantly
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No reasons at all? None? Can’t think of a single reason they may increase their arsenal? :rolleyes:
 
bobbymike said:
responsiblestatecraft.org

Hawks up the ante: China is now a nuclear threat, too - Responsible Statecraft

What's clear from the hawks overheated rhetoric is they desperately want there to be an arms race. To what end, we can only guess.
responsiblestatecraft.org responsiblestatecraft.org
As part of their campaign to agitate for intensified rivalry with the Chinese government, China hawks are feigning interest in arms control so that they can engage in reckless fearmongering about a mostly imaginary Chinese nuclear buildup.

According to U.S. government estimates, China possesses fewer than 300 nuclear weapons, and there is no reason to think that they are looking to increase that number significantly
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No reasons at all? None? Can’t think of a single reason they may increase their arsenal? :rolleyes:
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Wow. Well they're currently producing two new mobile ICBMs, which will need new warheads. (Both MIRVed of course.) They've already said most of their ASBMs are nuclear capable as well as I recall. They're also working on a new SSBN/SLBM combo, but of course, no new nukes there needed. :rolleyes: But anybody who questions the approved narrative, or the motives of the peddlers of fake news, gets a trip to Room 101, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
 
Seeing as how they are trying to supplant the US, China will need a sizeable nuclear deterrent to at least match the US.

The writer, Daniel Larison, is an editor @ AntiWar.com, seems to downplay China based on his Twitter: Here
 
news.usni.org

Russian and Chinese Nuclear Threats Pose Problem for U.S. Deterrence, Experts Say - USNI News

Russian and Chinese threats to use nuclear weapons in Europe or across the Taiwan Strait pose “stark real-world problems” in defining deterrence as the United States modernizes its strategic forces, security experts agreed Wednesday. While the three panelists and keynoter speaker former Sen. Jon...
news.usni.org news.usni.org

"Adding in China, which is expected to at least double its nuclear weapons stockpile in a decade, as well as North Korea and possibly Iran, Payne said,”the threat context is becoming more and more challenging.” The threat includes mobile intermediate-range cruise missiles to sophisticated air defense systems and dual-use, supposedly simple weapons like mines.

Heinrichs put the Russian advantage over the United States in tactical nuclear weapons at 10 to 1. Kyl said the Russians have achieved more than 85 percent of the nuclear platform and weapons system modernization, and China could be aiming to triple its nuclear stockpile to 600 weapons in the next few years.

Moscow and Beijing are ignoring the Cold War “balance of terror” argument – that any nuclear exchange would be suicidal – when they ratchet up the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons. Russia calls the policy “escalate to de-escalate.”"
 
I don’t think Chinese first use would be practical...they are strategically inferior and will remain so through the medium term. Any escalation ultimately favors the US. Even a tactical first use doesn’t favor them because they’ve built a series of static, tactical targets inside the nine dashed line. Nuclear weapons would be the easiest way to wipe non sovereign, military personnel only land masses from the sea.

The Russians are far more problematic with shear number and variety of tactical weapons, a equal or near equal strategic deterrence to control escalation, and perhaps most disturbingly a seeming doctrine of first use as a mechanism of intimidation. The US needs a new class of stand-off tactical nuclear missile, or at a minimum the new strategic missile utilized in a tactical role. Is the AGM-86 DAY enabled? I think the tomahawks did have a low yield option but I think the ALCM didn’t. The replacement should have DAY.
 
Josh_TN said:
I don’t think Chinese first use would be practical...they are strategically inferior and will remain so through the medium term. Any escalation ultimately favors the US. Even a tactical first use doesn’t favor them because they’ve built a series of static, tactical targets inside the nine dashed line. Nuclear weapons would be the easiest way to wipe non sovereign, military personnel only land masses from the sea.

The Russians are far more problematic with shear number and variety of tactical weapons, a equal or near equal strategic deterrence to control escalation, and perhaps most disturbingly a seeming doctrine of first use as a mechanism of intimidation. The US needs a new class of stand-off tactical nuclear missile, or at a minimum the new strategic missile utilized in a tactical role. Is the AGM-86 DAY enabled? I think the tomahawks did have a low yield option but I think the ALCM didn’t. The replacement should have DAY.
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When looking at the maintenance costs of maintaining our sizeable nuclear arsenal, do you think the Russian Federation has that kind of money? Perhaps their ability to respond is relatively degraded.
 
In_A_Dream said:
Josh_TN said:
I don’t think Chinese first use would be practical...they are strategically inferior and will remain so through the medium term. Any escalation ultimately favors the US. Even a tactical first use doesn’t favor them because they’ve built a series of static, tactical targets inside the nine dashed line. Nuclear weapons would be the easiest way to wipe non sovereign, military personnel only land masses from the sea.

The Russians are far more problematic with shear number and variety of tactical weapons, a equal or near equal strategic deterrence to control escalation, and perhaps most disturbingly a seeming doctrine of first use as a mechanism of intimidation. The US needs a new class of stand-off tactical nuclear missile, or at a minimum the new strategic missile utilized in a tactical role. Is the AGM-86 DAY enabled? I think the tomahawks did have a low yield option but I think the ALCM didn’t. The replacement should have DAY.
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When looking at the maintenance costs of maintaining our sizeable nuclear arsenal, do you think the Russian Federation has that kind of money? Perhaps their ability to respond is relatively degraded.
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I think some of their weapons systems are older but they are maintaining the same strategic posture as the US via New START: 700 deployed launchers and 1550 warheads. One could argue those Delta IVs are really showing their age compared to the Virginia class that would be assigned to hunt them, but tube for tube, warhead for warhead Russia is an equal and is continuing to modernize its force, along with attempting to introduce several new types of strategic weapon.

Long term, the Russian economy is a lot smaller than that of the US and it has to be a drain to recapitalize their strategic forces. Maintenance is also likely a bit of an issue for some parts of the force.
 
In_A_Dream said:
Josh_TN said:
I don’t think Chinese first use would be practical...they are strategically inferior and will remain so through the medium term. Any escalation ultimately favors the US. Even a tactical first use doesn’t favor them because they’ve built a series of static, tactical targets inside the nine dashed line. Nuclear weapons would be the easiest way to wipe non sovereign, military personnel only land masses from the sea.

The Russians are far more problematic with shear number and variety of tactical weapons, a equal or near equal strategic deterrence to control escalation, and perhaps most disturbingly a seeming doctrine of first use as a mechanism of intimidation. The US needs a new class of stand-off tactical nuclear missile, or at a minimum the new strategic missile utilized in a tactical role. Is the AGM-86 DAY enabled? I think the tomahawks did have a low yield option but I think the ALCM didn’t. The replacement should have DAY.
Click to expand...
When looking at the maintenance costs of maintaining our sizeable nuclear arsenal, do you think the Russian Federation has that kind of money? Perhaps their ability to respond is relatively degraded.
Click to expand...
What are the maintenance costs? Do they test fly them?
 
I don't have that information broadly speaking, but I saw footage of four Bulava missiles being ripple fired in the last couple months as an example.
 
www.arabnews.com

Iran boosts nuclear program in snub to US

TEHRAN/JEDDAH: Iran on Saturday started up advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges in breach of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to curb its nuclear program. The new move is a direct challenge to the US, after talks began last week aimed at reviving the 2015...
www.arabnews.com www.arabnews.com
 
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