DPRK Missile, Rocket Launches
I’ve been trying to keep track of the really impressive rate of missile testing in the DPRK over the past year plus now — not least because I was the only weirdo for a long time arguing that North…
2015
123 posts
U.S. National Security Strategy
U.S. National Security Strategy reports, like the one issued by President Barack Obama on February 6th, are quickly forgotten. They do, however, provide useful temperature-taking devices. Compare, for example, the National Security Strategy report released by the George W. Bush…
Modernization Mountain: Ash Carter and the Aging Triad
After a series of scandals, incoming Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has some tough choices to make about US nuclear weapons and the future of the so-called “triad” of nuclear delivery system. Jeffrey and Aaron discuss Carter’s confirmation hearing, Jeffrey’s…
India’s Bilateral Obligations
On Monday, February 9 and Wednesday, February 11, the Australian parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) will take up Australia’s nuclear cooperation agreement with India. According to a National Interest Statement from the Australian government, the agreement will enter into force…
Obama in India; Xi in Pakistan
Trend lines on the subcontinent have become more pronounced after President Obama’s visit as chief guest at the Republic Day parade and reports of Chinese President’s Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit for Republic Day celebrations in Pakistan. The juxtaposition of Obama’s…
When Open Source Goes Wrong
We love open source. We talk about it all of the time. But it went wrong – like really wrong – in two different instances in recent weeks. Today, Aaron and Jeffrey talk about the dark side of open source…
Nunn-Lugar, R.I.P.
The most important post-Cold War initiative to reduce nuclear dangers undertaken by the United States has come to a quiet, unceremonious end. Cooperative threat reduction programs to secure loose nukes and reduce surplus force structure in the remnants of the…
It’s Not A Rocket
No, it’s not a rocket. An Israeli television station has published a number of satellite images of a launch pad at the Imam Khomeini Space Center near Semnan in Iran that purport to show a new Iranian missile. One problem:…
Red Bird Express
Some time ago, I came across a funny story — did you know Taiwan tried to disguise cruise missile deployments as delivery trucks? Guess how well it worked? Well, you’re reading about it here, aren’t you? The story was actually…
Cruisin’
What’s up with Taiwan’s cruise missile program? What in the world compelled the Taiwanese government to deploy the HF-2E in poorly disguised civilian trucks? And how cool is it that Taiwan displayed the HF-2E’s engine? To get to the bottom…