Nuclear Policy News – March 24, 2020

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Top News:

Russia’s modernization programs for strategic nuclear bombers
Real Clear Defense

N.K. says leader Kim oversaw test of newly developed tactical guided weapon
Yonhap News

Hypersonic arms race heats up with U.S. glide body test
Asia Times

United States

Hypersonic arms race heats up with U.S. glide body test
Asia Times3/23/20
The Pentagon just took a big step forward in the hypersonic arms race with Russia and China, according to military analysts.

OPINION: How the coronavirus outbreak is like a nuclear attack
Bulletin of Atomic ScientistsJeffrey Lewis
3/20/20
In 2018, arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis published a book titled The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States: A Speculative Novel.

OPINION: Why the Pentagon’s THAAD missile defense system is becoming critical to the protection of the U.S. homeland
ForbesLoren Thompson
The coronavirus crisis is a reminder that catastrophes sometimes befall civilization with little or no warning. U.S. policymakers can be forgiven for not realizing how quickly the virus would spread, but they have had plenty of warning about other dangers that could cause widespread suffering.

OPINION: Making nukes weapons of last resort
Arms Control WonkMichael Krepon
3/22/20
The tension between deterrence and arms control is hard-wired: those of us who believe that reducing nuclear dangers requires reducing the salience of these weapons propose steps that are opposed by those who believe that any weakening of deterrence would increase the risk of nuclear use.

East Asia

N.K. says leader Kim oversaw test of newly developed tactical guided weapon
Yonhap News3/22/20
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a test of a newly developed “tactical guided weapon,” state media reported Sunday, a day after South Korea said the communist nation fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea.

South Korea military accuses North Korea of firing two suspected short-range ballistic missiles
CNN3/20/20
North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the seas between the Korean peninsula and Japan Saturday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Russia and Europe

Russia’s modernization programs for strategic nuclear bombers
Real Clear Defense3/24/20
Putin’s Russia has been modernizing its strategic nuclear bomber strike capability for two decades.

OPINION: It’s time for the European Union to talk to North Korea: a comment
38 NorthJames Hoare
3/23/20
I read with interest the piece carried in 38 North on March 2 on European Union (EU) relations with the DPRK.

ANALYSIS: As U.S.-Russian arms control faces expiration, sides face tough choices
BrookingsSteven Pifer
3/23/20
The Trump administration’s proposal for trilateral arms control negotiations appears to be gaining little traction in Moscow and Beijing, and the era of traditional nuclear arms control may be coming to an end just as new challenges emerge.

South Asia

Pakistan’s effort to launch 750km range missile crashes
Hindustan Times3/23/20
Pakistan’s efforts to build a 750 km range ground-launched cruise missile Babur II have suffered a set-back with the delivery platform crashing to the ground after two minutes or 14 kilometres in flight from the launch point at Sonmiani test range in Balochistan on March 19.

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