This web page gives a brief description of the 1994 NPR and provides links in the right-hand bar to documents (pdf format) released by the Department of Defense at the time, as well as documents since obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The Objective of the 1994 NPR In response to President Clinton’s direction […]
Archives
Nuclear Posture Reviews
The debate that followed the Bush administrations Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) in late-2001 and early-2002 has highlighted a need for information about how the review compares to the previous NPR conducted by the Clinton administration in 1994. What is new and what is a continuation of efforts from the 1990s? A comparison was difficult during […]
The Nautilus Institute Nuclear Strategy Project: White Paper Post-Start II Arms Control
After the Nuclear Posture Review was completed in September 1994 and START I entered into force three months later, STRATCOM began preparing for what would come after START II. To ensure international support for an indefinite extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the NPT Review and Extension conference in New York in April […]
The Nautilus Institute Nuclear Strategy Project: Sun City Extended Study
During the Nuclear Posture Review deliberations in 1994, STRATCOM published the Sun City Extended study. Emerging less than a year after completion of the original Sun City study from 1993, the new study contained important changes compared with its predecessor. Although the declassified Sun City Extended is heavily redacted, the new study’s perhaps most interesting […]
Missile Defense Planning
The Bush administration has increased the prominence of missile defense systems in US military planning, but efforts have been underway for a long time to increase the role of missile defense systems. The public debate so far has focused on whether various future missile defense system will work as intended, but less attention has been […]
B-1B Lancer Nuclear Rerole Plan
Referenced in: “The Unruly Hedge: Cold War Thinking at the Crawford Summit” Arms Control Today December 2001. Although the B-1B is widely described by military officials as a “conventional-only” bomber, the Pentagon maintains a “nuclear rerole plan” under which “spare” nuclear bombs for the aircraft are maintained in the Active Reserve Stockpile of U.S. Strategic […]
Strategic Bombers
The United States operates two types of long-range strategic nuclear bombers: B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress. Both are capable of delivering nuclear bombs (B61 and B83) and the B-52 can also deploy air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM and ACM). A third aircraft, the B-1, has been referred to by the US Air Force as a “conventional-only” […]
US-Korean Nuclear Relations
The Korean peninsula has played a central role in US nuclear planning since the Korean War. Cold War nuclear deployments in South Korea by the United States are documented in the article “Where They Were.” Examples of modern planning are available here. FOIA Documents >> Post-Cold War nuclear planning >> US nuclear strike training and […]
The Nautilus Institute Nuclear Strategy Project: The Sun City Study
After the signing of the START II treaty in January 1993, the Clinton administration’s goal of further cutting the military budget and the Bottom-up Review prompted STRATCOM to conduct a study of alternative force structures. The study examined nine different force structures, six of which were at the 3,500 START II accountable limit. Option 1 […]
The Nautilus Institute Nuclear Strategy Project: STRATCOM’s View
In November 1992, shortly after the Washington Summit Agreement between the United States and Russia — and a few months before the START II Treaty was signed, representatives for US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) went to Washington, DC, to brief Defense Secretary Richard B. Cheney and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell about the implications […]