nuclear weapons

China’s nuclear arsenal surges 20% in one year, reaching over 600 warheads: SIPRI

The Chinese arsenal is still much smaller than that of Russia and the US, but Moscow is watching Beijing's buildup warily, one analyst told Breaking Defense.

America’s nuclear arsenal to cost $946B over next decade, government report reveals

The estimated total rose by 25 percent over the last two years, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

How to leverage US nukes overseas

The US should use an international desire for nuclear weapons as geopolitical bargaining chips, write two nuclear experts.

A nuclear Poland? Logistics, political challenges ahead of potential Warsaw deal

“Poland’s history makes it very clear why they are concerned that the people they align with, and the people they rely on for protection from Russia, will abandon them,” Jon Wolfsthal, a former US government official now with the Federation of American Scientists, told Breaking Defense.

US cyber vulnerabilities fuel N. Korea’s nuclear arsenal, but solutions are near: DARPA official

"We are essentially funding nuclear weapons development in North Korea with our bad software practices," said Kathleen Fisher, director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office.

How Trump’s ‘Iron Dome for America’ upends four decades of nuclear doctrine

The inclusion of space-based interceptors is a particularly hard nut for Moscow to swallow, given long-standing Russian belief that such weapons are aimed at undercutting the country’s nuclear retaliatory capability following a US first strike.

ChatNC3: Can the US trust AI in nuclear command, control and communications?

Self-driving cars still get into accidents on highways, an environment for which there is abundant data to train algorithms, expert Paul Scharre said. “What is the training data set we have for nuclear war?”

US completes $9B B61-12 nuclear warhead upgrade

Technically, the B61-12 is not a “new” nuclear weapon that increases the stockpile, as the US is taking the warheads from the older bombs and placing them in new housings.

From a runaway ICBM pricetag to AI dogfighting: 5 air warfare stories from 2024

The Air Force notched key successes in 2024, but also saw setbacks for some of the service's biggest priorities.

How the DoD and partners are sharing information without compromising security

In our latest eBook collection you’ll read about the need for an integrated cloud system and how the Air Force is trying to secure its own network, questions about AI in nuclear weapon systems, as well as interviews with key industry players.

Sub-launched nuclear cruise missile will need ‘an entirely new industrial base,’ warns Navy admiral

SLCM-N was a priority of the first Trump Administration that Biden tried and failed to cancel. Now Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe has to figure out how to actually build it — without compromising ballistic missile modernization or new hypersonics.

It’s time to put American bombers back on alert

The US bomber fleet has been off alert since 1991, but the nuclear threats of China, Russia and North Korea means it's time to go back to the Cold War posture, argue two nuclear power advocates.

DoD ‘exploring’ options for nuclear buildup as part of strategic review

Vipin Narang, DoD's top nuclear policy official, explained that while current modernization plans — estimated by the Government Accountability Office last October to cost at least $350 billion over the next two decades — are "necessary," they "may well be insufficient" to meet current and future threats. 

US needs more nuclear subs, mobile ICBMs and tactical nukes: Heritage report

The conservative Heritage Foundation presented the new report as a potential draft Nuclear Posture Review for the 2025 presidential administration.