Scott Sagan observes that the W80 warhead — you know the type accidentally transported from Minot to Barksdale — doesn’t have a fire-resistant pit (FRP). Why does that matter? Well, this is an old discussion, but when an aircraft carrying nuclear weapons have crashed, they’ve spread plutonium creating a nasty, if very localized, clean-up issue. …
What Went Wrong At Minot
by | 2007-09-23 | 11 Comments
Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus have the scoop on how those six nuclear warheads went missing. One mistake at the beginning enabled a chain reaction that allowed the warheads to be out of custody for 36 hours: A munitions custodian officer is supposed to keep track of the nuclear warheads. In the case of cruise …
Syria-NORK Nuclear Cooperation
by | 2007-09-23 | 5 Comments
Though it has long sold its missile technology — to Syria, Iran, Pakistan and other customers — North Korea has never been known to export nuclear technology or material. Mark Mazzetti and David Sanger, “Israeli Raid on Syria Fuels Debate on Weapons,” The New York Times, September 22, 2007. Um, I guess I appreciate Mazzetti …
Say My Name
by | 2007-09-22 | 3 Comments
From Ashley Tellis’ article in Survival entitled, China’s Military Space Strategy: US policymakers, too, were aware of the preparations leading up to the test as well as its successful outcome but, after considerable internal deliberations, chose to keep silent. A week later, when an American scholar, Jerry Lewis, and Aviation Week & Space Technology finally …
