I started ArmsControlWonk.com in March 2004 for inchoate reasons. Over time, I’ve constructed an elaborate post-hoc rationalization for the site focusing on four goals: To report items of interest that wouldn’t make it into the New York Times, Place arms control related developments into context and correct lousy reporting, To explore the foundations of arms …
Upcoming Military Space Launches of Concern, Redux
by | 2005-01-19 | No Comments
In May 2004, I blogged about three upcoming launches of concern: XSS-11, NFIRE and a classified Air Force payload. At least two, and possibly all three, have been delayed. Here is an update. Experimental Spacecraft System (XSS)-11. The successor to the Clementine program, XSS-11 will demonstrate technologies associated with rendezvous, inspection and anti-satellite missions. The …
Grilling Bodman
by | 2005-01-19 | No Comments
Whereas Condi’s confirmation hearing was largely theater (16-2), the upcoming confirmation hearing for Secretary of Energy nominee Samuel Bodman (right) offers a real opportunity to resolve an enigma for Senate Democrats. Bodman is a chemical engineer with no background in national security issues—a strange c.v. for a man who will head the country’s nuclear weapons …
The Japanese Made Us Do It
by | 2005-01-18 | No Comments
Lest we forget: Hiroshima Peace Memorial (source) Does the United States need the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP)—a new 1 MT bunker busting nuclear weapon? After dueling op-eds on that question and the future of the nuclear deterrent by Frank Gaffney and Representative David Hobson (R-OH), The Washington Times gives Keith Payne the last word. …
