nuclear-news

Military experts condemn USA’s wasteful and unnecessary nuclear weapons spending

Redirect the nuclear weapons budget, The Hill, By Brigadier General Keith Kerr (Ret.)         – 04/19/12   Every few years, some outrageous abuse of the taxpayer’s dollars rightfully grabs headlines. Many will remember the infamous $400 toilet seats that were part of the defense procurement scandals of the 1980’s. More recently, there was the “bridge to nowhere,” a $25 million dollar boondoggle that perfectly exemplified poor Congressional oversight of our taxes.

The problem with these headline grabbers is that they often focus on comparatively small matters in the relative scheme of federal spending and arguably distract attention from vastly more wasteful spending.

You need look no further for an example of this than the hundreds of billions of dollars that the U.S. is projected to spend on redundant and unnecessary nuclear weapons over the next decade. Continue reading →

April 21, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

USA has the hugest nuclear arsenal

The U.S. Still Has More Nukes Than Russia, US News, April 10, 2012 The United States has hundreds more nuclear weapons deployed and aircraft capable of dropping atomic bombs than Russia, according to State Department data released Tuesday.

Under a nuclear-arms reduction pact the Cold War-era rivals struck last year, both nations are in the midst of reducing their nuclear arsenals…… The State Department data shows the U.S. has 812 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers deployed. Russia possesses 494.

The report also says the the military has nearly 1,740 nuclear-tipped ICBMs and sub-based ballistic missiles, and warheads “counted for deployed heavy bombers.” Russia has around 1,490. Washington also has the edge in the number of total—meaning those that are and aren’t currently deployed—nuclear ballistic missile launchers, submarines and bomber aircraft: 1040 to Moscow’s 881.

Obama has talked of a “nuclear-free world,” and has pushed hard for nuclear weapons reductions between the Cold War foes. More pragmatic Obama administration officials simply want nuclear arsenal cuts because they feel the nation has more than enough and it would perhaps free up billions annually.

But hawkish Republicans on Capitol Hill vow to block big reductions….. http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/dotmil/2012/04/10/the-us-still-has-more-nukes-than-russia

April 11, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

USA military industry wants dangerous nuclear powered drones

 “It’s a pretty terrifying prospect. Drones are much less safe than other aircraft and tend to crash a lot. There is a major push by this industry to increase the use of drones and both the public and Government are struggling to keep up with the implications.”

Years of development work on nuclear powered drones, NZ Herald, Apr 4, 2012 Drones have become a key weapon of the Obama Administration and US intelligence services and the military uses them in several countries, including Pakistan and Yemen.
They are operated by “pilots” thousands of kilometres away and sometimes remain in the air for days. A new generation of nuclear-powered drones would be capable of flying for months on end without refuelling. Continue reading →

April 4, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment