Top News: The elusive horror of Hiroshima National Geographic How the DoD plans to meet its ambitious hypersonic missile test schedule Defense News U.S. examines whether Saudi nuclear program could lead to bomb effort New York Times United States Guided by national defense strategy, defense department increases force lethality U.S. Department of Defense8/5/20 A priority is the modernization of all three legs of the nuclear triad, including air-launched systems, ground-based systems and sea-launched systems. Coupled with that is modernization of the nuclear command, control, and communications infrastructure. How the DoD plans to meet its ambitious hypersonic missile test schedule Defense News8/5/20 The Army — in conjunction with the Navy — is planning to conduct three flight tests of its hypersonic glide body in 2021, an ambitious schedule to initially field the weapon in fiscal 2023, according to Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood, who oversees the Army’s rapid development of hypersonics, directed energy and space capabilities. ANALYSIS: Is there a (new) strategic arms race? NIPPDavid Trachtenberg 8/5/20 In recent weeks, critics of the Trump Administration have been hyperventilating over assertions that the United States is instigating a new arms race with Russia. These critics assert that U.S. actions will invariably result in similar and dangerous Russian reactions that will jeopardize the security of the nation and, in fact, the world. Middle East U.S. examines whether Saudi nuclear program could lead to bomb effort New York Times8/5/20 Intelligence agencies are scrutinizing whether the kingdom’s work with China to develop nuclear expertise is cover to process uranium and move toward development of a weapon. OPINION: Destruction of Iranian nuclear facility should remind Democrats of Israel’s unique value as an ally Real Clear DefenseJohn Hannah 8/6/20 An explosion at the Natanz nuclear complex on July 2 laid waste to the Iran Centrifuge Assembly Center (ICAC), a workshop designed to mass produce thousands of advanced centrifuges for enriching uranium. Russia and Europe ANALYSIS: How U.S. And Russian nuclear arsenals evolved StatisticaNiall McCarthy 8/5/20 75 years on from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, more than 13,000 nuclear warheads are still scattered across the world from silos in Montana to isolated corners of European airbases and even to the ocean depths where ballistic missile submarines lurk as a deterrent nearly impossible to detect. OPINION: It’s time to rethink our Russia policy PoliticoRose Gottemoeller et al. 8/5/20 U.S.-Russia relations are at a dangerous dead end that threatens the U.S. national interest. Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki Hiroshima bomb: Japan marks 75 years since nuclear attack BBC News8/6/20 Bells have tolled in Hiroshima, Japan, to mark the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the world’s first atomic bomb. The elusive horror of Hiroshima National Geographic8/5/20 The official plans had been appropriately grand: 11,500 attendees would gather in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park for a somber ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city by the United States on August 6, 1945. But the pandemic had other plans. OPINION: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the new nuclear danger The HillDaryl Kimball 8/5/20 Seventy-five years ago, on Aug. 6, the United States executed a surprise atomic bomb attack on the city of Hiroshima.