Years · 2012

December 2012

20 posts

Article

More Unha Wreckage

Well, one thing I am not is a rocket scientist.  David Wright has a nice review of some of the pieces of debris, though sadly he finished it before several more images (like the engine, above) hit the press. Here…

Article

Year-End Review

Shall we label 2012 as The Year of Waiting? The fourth year of a U.S. presidential term is usually marked by the absence of big initiatives and the presence of partisan gridlock. This year was no exception. Compound this with…

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Subcritical Experiments

There was a minor dustup on Twitter between my colleague, Jon Wolfsthal, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Like many discussions on Twitter, 140 characters at a time just didn’t get the job done. At issue is an important article…

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How about an iPad?

The Department of State’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance (which in any just universe would be abbreviated ACVC), in partnership with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and the Center for Policy Studies (PIR) in Russia, is launching an essay contest. Here is…

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Death and Disability

A young man named Bob Dole from Russell, Kansas left home and fought in Italy during World War II, where he sustained wounds that required over three years of hospitalization. He fought off these crippling injuries, found a knack for…

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Sutyagin on Russia’s TacNukes

Igor Sutyagin — yes that Igor Sutyagin — has published a fascinating occasional paper for RUSI entitled, Atomic Accounting: A New Estimate of Russia’s Non-Strategic Nuclear Forces. Apparently, the Russian stockpile may not be quite as large as we believe.

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Unha Debris Revisited

Yesterday, I noted that images of the debris from the Unha launch might provide insights into the design of the missile.  We have such an observation already! The fuel tank appears to have four feed pipes coming out of the fuel tank.…

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Unha Debris

One of the most fascinating results of the Unha-3 trajectory and relatively success is the debris!  There is plenty of  video of what looks like the first stage fuel tank. (Here is an image of the full rocket for comparison.) There is also some…

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New From NSA on Pollard

During the Obama re-election campaign and afterward some people have been stirring the pot on ex-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, but now we can mull this item which popped up from the National Security Archive today. I don’t think we can say off…

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Guest Judge Lyrical Prompt

Tom Nichols is a professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, the man who stands perpetual watch at The War Room and a five-time Jeopardy! champion. Tom is also a guest judge in this year’s ACW contest…