Nuclear strategy
Doctrines and plans for production and use of atomic weapons
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We include updates on Samson Option, Mutual assured destruction, Stanislav Petrov, Dead Hand, Korean People's Army Strategic Force, Strategic Rocket Forces, People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, Deterrence theory, Project A119, United States Strategic Command, No first use, Air Force Global Strike Command, Letters of last resort, Madman theory, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks ... and more.
| 2025 |
Nuclear triad
Scheduled introduction of B-21 Raider long-range bomber into service.
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| 2025 |
Nuclear triad
Planned retirement of B83 nuclear bomb after completion of B61 Life Extension Program.
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| 2025 | Ongoing construction of 12 new silos for DF-5C in Luanchuan, Henan under the Central Theater Command. |
| 2024 |
Nuclear triad
National Security Council prepares an updated nuclear strategy.
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| 2024 | New base for DF-31AG completed in Hancheng, Shaanxi, becoming part of the Western Theater Command's missile infrastructure. |
| 2024 | 9M729 Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile entered service with the Strategic Rocket Forces, expanding their missile deployment options. |
| 2024 | A new intermediate-range ballistic missile named Oreshnik was launched at Dnipro, Ukraine. |
| 2024 | Northern Theater Command's base in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia is almost complete, potentially housing DF-31AG or DF-41 missiles |
| 2024 | Central Theater Command begins construction of 12 new silos at the Luanchuan base for potential DF-5C missiles |
| October 2024 | Successfully tested Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 18,000 km. |
| September 27 2024 |
Nuclear blackmail
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warned that Belarus will use nuclear weapons if attacked by the West.
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| September 25 2024 |
Nuclear blackmail
Putin warned the West that Russia would consider nuclear retaliation if attacked with conventional weapons, and threatened nuclear powers supporting an attack on Russia would be considered participants in the aggression.
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| September 25 2024 | PLARF performed its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test over the Pacific Ocean since the early 1980s. |
| August 29 2024 |
Nuclear triad
India commissioned its second ballistic missile submarine, continuing the development of its naval nuclear capabilities.
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| April 2024 | Successfully tested Hwasong-16B, a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile. |
| February 12 2024 |
John Gower
Passed away, concluding a distinguished career in the British Royal Navy.
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| January 2024 | Successfully performed the first orbital launch of the Qaem 100 launch vehicle, placing the Soraya satellite into a 750 km orbit and setting a new altitude record for Iran. |
| January 2024 | Successfully tested Hwasong-16B, a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile. |
| January 2024 | Successfully tested Pulhwasal-3-31 cruise missile twice. |
| 2023 |
Nuclear triad
China begins ensuring that at least one nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine is always on standby for deterrence.
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| 2023 | Three missile regiments were rearmed, and the new RS-28 Sarmat super-heavy ICBM entered service to replace aging R-36 missiles. |
| 2023 | North Korean-made missiles were used to attack Ukraine, providing an opportunity for North Korea to test missiles and expand its nuclear and ballistic missile programs while violating international sanctions. |
| 2023 |
Deterrence theory
A research study finds that while nuclear-armed states are less likely to be targeted by non-nuclear states, they are not necessarily less likely to engage in low-level conflicts with other nuclear states.
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| 2023 |
William L. Borden
Portrayed by actor David Dastmalchian in Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer, further bringing Borden's story to wider public attention.
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| September 2023 | Launched Noor-3 (Najm) satellite on a Qassed launcher, reaching a 450 kilometer orbit. The satellite weighs 24 kg and has a camera image resolution of 6 to 4.8 meters. |
| July 2023 | Wang Houbin assumes command of the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF), taking over leadership of the strategic military unit. |
| June 6 2023 | The hypersonic ballistic missile 'Fattah' was officially unveiled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, following previous announcements about its capabilities. |
| April 2023 | Successfully tested Hwasong-18, the first solid-fuel ICBM in North Korean missile arsenal, with a range of 15,000 km. |
| 2022 |
Deterrence theory
Kyungwon Suh publishes a study suggesting that nuclear superiority may not reduce the likelihood of nuclear crisis initiation between nuclear-armed states.
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| 2022 |
Deterrence theory
Brian Blankenship and Erik Lin-Greenberg published a study challenging the effectiveness of high-resolve, low-capability deterrence signals, casting doubt on the traditional tripwire approach in international relations.
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| 2022 |
Deterrence theory
Elon Musk prevents Ukraine from conducting drone attacks on the Russian Black Sea fleet by withholding Starlink communications in Crimea, after receiving a nuclear threat warning from Russia's ambassador.
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| December 2022 | RF Defense Minister announced that 91.3% of the country's nuclear forces were modernized. |
| November 2022 | Conducted a successful suborbital test launch of the newly unveiled Qaem-100 launch vehicle. |
| November 10 2022 | During the 11th anniversary of Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam's death, Iran announced the development of an advanced hypersonic ballistic missile. Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh claimed the missile can maneuver in multiple atmospheric conditions and breach advanced missile defense systems. |
| March 2022 | Launched the Noor-2 military reconnaissance satellite into orbit using the Qased launch vehicle from the Shahroud Space Center. |
| March 2022 | Successfully tested Hwasong-17 mod 1 intercontinental ballistic missile with a range over 13,000 km. |
| February 2022 |
Deterrence theory
Russia begins invasion of Ukraine, demonstrating a complex scenario of nuclear deterrence where western powers are effectively deterred from direct military intervention due to nuclear threat risks.
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| February 24 2022 |
Nuclear blackmail
Vladimir Putin announced Russia's invasion of Ukraine and warned interfering countries would face unprecedented consequences, widely interpreted as a nuclear threat. Putin subsequently placed Russia's nuclear forces on higher alert.
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| 2021 |
Mutual assured destruction
Construction begins on the Columbia-class submarines, which will replace the Ohio-class SSBNs as part of the US strategic nuclear deterrent.
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| 2021 | CNN reported satellite images indicating Saudi Arabia was manufacturing solid fueled missiles with Chinese assistance. |
| September 2021 | First launched Hwasong-11A (KN-23) missile from a railcar. |
| July 2021 | Federation of American Scientists finds an additional 110 missile silos being constructed in Hami, Xinjiang. |
| July 2021 | China tested a globe-circling hypersonic missile with an unprecedented launch of a second missile from an ultra-high-speed vehicle, surprising Pentagon officials. |
| June 2021 | Construction of a new missile silo field in Gansu, western China, with 119 missile silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles discovered. |
| 2020 |
Nuclear ethics
Cumulative deaths from nuclear weapons testing estimated to have reached up to 43,000 people by this year.
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| 2020 |
Nuclear triad
China plans to deploy up to eight Jin-class (Type 094) submarines by the end of the year.
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| 2020 | New base (616) added in Ganzhou, Jiangxi with DF-17 missiles in the Eastern Theater Command. |
| 2020 | The Strategic Missile Forces completed switching to digital information transmission technology. |
| 2020 | North Korea expanded its missile brigades from 8 to 13 between these years. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Korean People's Army Strategic Force, Nuclear triad, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, Strategic Rocket Forces, Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force, Mutual assured destruction, John Gower (British naval officer), People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, Deterrence theory, Nuclear ethics, Nuclear blackmail & William L. Borden, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.