Top News ‘Leaked’ document of North Korea nuclear policy under probe in Seoul UPI Iran says it will break the uranium stockpile limit agreed under nuclear deal in 10 days CNN Will the nuclear threat return to Europe if Russia scraps INF treaty? Euronews U.S. Nuclear Policy Northrop engine teams with Raytheon hypersonic program Reuters6/18/2019 Raytheon Co said on Tuesday it has teamed up with Northrop Grumman Corp to develop and produce engines for hypersonic weapons that can travel 4,000 miles per hour. House and Senate NDAA Would Require New Reports on Columbia Subs Exchange Monitor6/17/2019 Both the House and Senate defense authorization bills, approved by their respective armed services committees, directed reports and briefings on the Columbia-class submarine program due to schedule and cost concerns. AEDC space chamber supports Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Air Force Materiel Command6/17/2019 The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) conducted a successful flight test for a program that the 10-foot vacuum (10V) chamber at Arnold Air Force Base has supported for nearly a decade. East Asia Chinese President Xi Jinping To Visit North Korea This Week NPR6/17/2019 Two key Asian leaders — both of whom President Trump has been trying to negotiate deals with — will meet Thursday, when Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea for the first time as president, Chinese and North Korean state media report. ‘Leaked’ document of North Korea nuclear policy under probe in Seoul UPI6/17/2019 Documents outlining Kim Jong Un’s nuclear policy are under scrutiny in the South following their public release. Middle East Iran says it will break the uranium stockpile limit agreed under nuclear deal in 10 days CNN6/18/2019 Iran is ramping up enrichment of low-grade uranium and will pass the limit it is allowed to stockpile under the nuclear deal in 10 days, a spokesman for the Iranian atomic agency announced Monday. Iran says it won’t wage war, Russia tells U.S. to stop stoking tensions Reuters6/17/2019 President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday Iran would not wage war against any nation, while Russia told the United States it should drop what it called provocative plans to deploy more troops to the Middle East. Russia/FSU/Europe Will the nuclear threat return to Europe if Russia scraps INF treaty? Euronews6/18/2019 Fears the nuclear element of European security is coming back will be reinforced if Russia pulls out of a landmark weapons agreement with the US, an expert has told Euronews. Russian Hybrid Warfare and the S-400 RealClearDefenseAdam Cabot 6/18/2019 Analysts, academics, and policymakers can’t afford to be complacent and shrug off Russia’s Hybrid Warfare strategy and its intention to create a serious wedge between the U.S. and its allies. Opinion/Analysis/Commentary Here’s how many nuclear weapons exist, and which countries own them Defense NewsKelsey Reichmann 6/17/2019 The number of warheads has decreased over the past year, even as countries continue to modernize their nuclear forces, according to an annual assessment of global nuclear arms. US To Russia On Nuke Experiments: Do As We Say, Not As We Do WiredPatrick Malone 6/18/2019 “The potential impact of the low-yield testing spat is that it undermines support for staying in the [testing] moratorium,” said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the nonpartisan Federation of American Scientists in Washington. “If President Trump were to assert in response that ‘you cheated, therefore I’m going to pull out,’ then we could see both countries slide back into large yield testing” and possible new, more effective, nuclear weapons designs. This New Hypersonic Missile Would Travel Faster Than Mach 5 Popular MechanicsKyle Mizokami 6/18/2019 Missile maker Raytheon has unveiled a new scramjet-powered weapon designed to minimize the reaction time of enemy air defenses. The unnamed weapon would travel at speeds in excess of Mach 5, or 3,800 miles an hour, blazing past existing anti-air defenses to destroy high-value targets. Special Interest Report to Congress on Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense U.S. Naval Institute6/13/2019 The Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations. Under the FY2020 budget submission, the number of BMD-capable Navy Aegis ships is projected to increase from 38 at the end of FY2018 to 59 at the end of FY2024. BMD-capable Aegis ships operate in European waters to defend Europe from potential ballistic missile attacks from countries such as Iran, and in in the Western Pacific and the Persian Gulf to provide regional defense against potential ballistic missile attacks from countries such as North Korea and Iran.