Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)

Report to Congress on Arms Control Agreements

The following is the July 11, 2023, Congressional Research Service report, Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements.

From the report

Arms control and nonproliferation efforts are two of the tools that the United States has occasionally used to implement its national security strategy. Although some believe these tools do little to restrain the behavior of U.S. adversaries, while doing too much to restrain U.S. military forces and operations, many others see them as...

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/14/report-to-congress-on-arms-control-agreements

Report to Congress on LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

The following is the Congressional Research Service, Defense Primer: LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile on Jan. 10, 2023.

From the report

The LGM-35A Sentinel is expected to replace the Minuteman III (MMIII) Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in the U.S. nuclear force structure. MMIII has served as the ground-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad—land-based ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and nuclear-capable bombers—since 1970. The Air Force...

https://news.usni.org/2023/01/16/report-to-congress-on-lgm-35a-sentinel-intercontinental-ballistic-missile

Russian and Chinese Nuclear Threats Pose Problem for U.S. Deterrence, Experts Say

Borei-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine Vladimir Monomakh (SSBN). Russian Navy Photo

Russian and Chinese threats to use nuclear weapons in Europe or across the Taiwan Strait pose “stark real-world problems” in defining deterrence as the United States modernizes its strategic forces, security experts agreed Wednesday.

While the three panelists and keynoter speaker former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said modernizing all legs of the triad and the weapons systems was essential, Keith Payne, the...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/08/russian-and-chinese-nuclear-threats-pose-problem-for-u-s-deterrence-experts-say

HASC Chair Smith Calls For New National Defense Strategy, Nuclear Policy Review

Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Tennessee (SSBN-734) gold crew returns to its homeport at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, following a strategic deterrence patrol on Jan. 11, 2020. US Navy Photo

The House Armed Service Committee chairman’s advice to the incoming Biden administration is to put together a National Defense Strategy in its first six to nine months in office that will provide direction for further review of nuclear policy and budget-building.

As part of that...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/11/hasc-chair-smith-calls-for-new-national-defense-strategy-nuclear-policy-review

Russian Ambassador to U.S. Sees Hope for Nuclear Arms Treaty Extension

An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at 1:13 a.m. Pacific Time on Oct. 2, 2019. US Air Force Photo

The Russian ambassador to the United States said there is still time to extend the Strategic Arms Control Treaty, due to expire in early February, even despite the upcoming presidential transition.

Anatoly Antonov, whose diplomatic career largely has been spent focused on major arms control issues, said the START treaty is a “key issue” for...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/07/russian-ambassador-to-u-s-sees-hope-for-nuclear-arms-treaty-extension

U.S. Working to End Chinese Secrecy Around Nuclear Capabilities

Chinese leader Xi Jinping aboard a PLA Navy ship. Xinhua photo

America’s senior arms negotiator said Washington is taking diplomatic and military steps to put an end to Beijing’s “great wall of secrecy” that surrounds its rapid and expanding strategic weapons program.

Speaking at a Heritage Foundation online forum this week, Marshall Billingslea, senior envoy for arms control, said Xi Jin-ping and the Communist Party leadership are engaged “in a crash nuclear build-up” with the intent of...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/15/u-s-working-to-end-chinese-secrecy-around-nuclear-capabilities

Report to Congress on Russian Nuclear Weapons

The following is the Aug. 5, 2018 Congressional Research Service report, Russia’s Nuclear Weapons: Doctrine, Forces, and Modernization.

From the report

Russia’s nuclear forces consist of both long-range, strategic systems – including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers – and shorter- and medium-range delivery systems. Russia is modernizing its nuclear forces, replacing Soviet-era systems with new missiles, submarines and...

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/13/report-to-congress-on-russian-nuclear-weapons

Official: U.S. Far Behind China, Russia in Modernizing Nuclear Arsenal

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN-739) off the coast of California in 2008. US Navy Photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – China and Russia had their money on winning asymmetric advantages in conventional and nuclear forces in the last decade, and now the United States is playing catch-up in modernizing its sea, air and land nuclear forces, the Pentagon’s top policy official said Wednesday.

David Trachtenberg, the Pentagon’s deputy...

https://news.usni.org/2019/04/25/official-u-s-far-behind-china-russia-in-modernizing-nuclear-arsenal

Summary of Arms and Nonproliferation Treaties

The following is the March 18, 2019 Congressional Research Service report, Arms Control and Nonproliferation: A Catalog of Treaties and Agreements.

From the Report

Arms control and nonproliferation efforts are two of the tools that have occasionally been used to implement U.S. national security strategy. Although some believe these tools do little to restrain the behavior of U.S. adversaries, while doing too much to restrain U.S. military forces and operations, many other analysts see them as an...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/19/summary-arms-nonproliferation-treaties

Report to Congress on Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

The following is the Feb. 8, 2018, Congressional Research Service report, Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

The United States and Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in December 1987. Negotiations on this treaty were the result of a “dual-track” decision taken by NATO in 1979 in response to concerns about the Soviet Union’s deployment of new intermediate-range nuclear...

https://news.usni.org/2019/02/13/report-congress-russian-compliance-intermediate-range-nuclear-forces-treaty-2

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