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 […]
Tag Archives: Nuclear Strategy Project
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” […]
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 […]
US Post-Cold War Nuclear Planning in Korea
Following the ending of the Cold War and the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from South Korea, US planning has continued for nuclear strike missions against North Korea. Delivery of non-strategic bombs is now the responsibility of fighter wings based in the continental United States. In 1998, for example, F-15E fighter bombers of the 4th Fighter […]
Withdrawal of US Nuclear Weapons from Korean Peninsula
As a result of President Bush’s unilateral disarmament initiatives in 1991, all U.S. nuclear weapons were withdrawn from South Korea. Yet U.S. authorities have never publicly confirmed the withdrawal from the Peninsula, and rumors have persisted — particularly in North and South Korea — that nuclear weapons might still be present. This excerpt from the […]
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 […]
1967 CINCPAC China Assessment
The principle change in the threat from China was in its growing nuclear weapons and guided missile capabilities, CINCPAC said. Two more nuclear tests and several missile test firings were conducted during the year, “bringing Communist China very near to, if not achievement of, initial operational capability in both weapons. A ballistic missile submarine program […]
1966 CINCPAC China Assessment
China conducted three more nuclear explosions in 1966, including its first two attempts to develop thermonuclear weapons. The third (the second explosion of the three) involved a nuclear warhead delivered by a Dong Feng-2 missile, China’s first nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile. The full-scale nuclear test launch of the DF-2 missile continued development of the medium-range ballistic […]