All articles tagged with #nuclear forces
Russia kicked off a three-day, large-scale drill of its nuclear forces involving about 64,000 troops, 200+ launchers, 140 aircraft, 73 ships and 13 submarines (eight armed with nuclear-tipped missiles) to rehearse preparation and use under threat, including cooperation with Belarus, as Ukrainian drone strikes intensify and Moscow reinforces its nuclear posture.
Kim Jong Un condemned South Korea-U.S. military exercises, viewing them as hostile and provocative, and announced plans to rapidly expand North Korea's nuclear and military capabilities, including the development of a new nuclear-capable warship, amid ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
US officials estimate Ukraine's drone attack on Russian airbases destroyed about 10 of up to 20 targeted warplanes, a figure lower than Ukraine's claim, raising concerns about escalation and potential impacts on nuclear forces amid ongoing conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that 95% of Russia's strategic nuclear forces have been modernized, with the Air Force receiving four new supersonic nuclear-capable bombers. Putin praised soldiers involved in the conflict in Ukraine as heroes and emphasized the ongoing modernization efforts of Russia's military-industrial complex, including the development of new strike systems and the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies in the military sphere. He also highlighted the production of new Zircon hypersonic missiles and the addition of new strategic submarines to the navy.
An experiment conducted by Simon Kegel and his colleagues has cast doubt on the leading theory of the nucleus. The experiment involved exciting helium nuclei by shooting a beam of electrons at a tank of cold helium gas. The team then compared the change in the nucleus's spread with a variety of theoretical calculations, but none of the theories matched the data. The calculation that came closest used an oversimplified model of the nuclear force, not the chiral effective field theory. Several groups plan to repeat the calculations to find out what went wrong.
Russia has suspended sharing information about its nuclear forces with the United States, including notices about missile tests. This comes after Moscow suspended its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms pact with the U.S. last month. The Russian foreign ministry initially said Moscow would keep notifying the U.S. about planned test launches of its ballistic missiles, but a senior Russian diplomat has now confirmed that there will be no notifications at all. As part of Russian drills that began on Wednesday, Yars mobile missile launchers would manoeuvre across three regions of Siberia, Russia’s defence ministry said.
The US has stopped sharing data on its nuclear forces with Russia, citing security concerns. The move comes amid heightened tensions between the two countries over a range of issues, including Ukraine and Syria. The decision to halt the data exchange was made by the US Department of Defense, which said it was necessary to protect national security. Russia has not yet commented on the move.