The SDSR was published last week and now we know: the in-service date for the Trident Successor submarines is to…
Modernisation
Trident: the need for a comprehensive risk assessment
The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), planned for publication on 23 November 2015, is expected to include an update on the Trident renewal project and financial estimates. Main Gate decision is likely to be put to Parliament early 2016. Like every major government project, MoD procurement officials will have conducted a detailed confidential risk analysis for the construction, but this project requires a far broader, comprehensive risk analysis over a set of areas, as listed in this briefing.
Entire Nuclear Arms Industry is ‘Based Upon Fear’
Major superpowers continue to modernize their nuclear weapons because there is an entire industry fueled by fear that helps to justify the development of nukes, BASIC’s Paul Ingram told Radio Sputnik in an interview on 18 November 2015.
Listen to the full clip on Radio Sputnik’s website:http://sputniknews.com/us/20151118/1030352634/nuclear-arms-race-fear.html
Tactical Nuclear Weapons, NATO and Deterrence
Nuclear sharing arrangements and the active deployment of US theatre nuclear weapons (TNW) in Europe under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are viewed as critical components of its deterrence posture. Previously, this nuclear posture was aimed at the former Soviet Union (USSR) and Warsaw Pact alliance during the Cold War. Since the end of the Cold War and the absorption of former Warsaw Pact states into NATOthe official justification for those systems remaining is not connected to any specified enemy.
Nuclear Security
This factsheet outlines important challenges and dimensions to the nuclear security debate. It was last…
Trident Cost-Saving Options
Trident's costs could be spiralling, as reported this week, though it may be too early to tell. Either way, the government is protecting this huge and most controversial military procurement project whilst deeply controversial welfare cuts are being debated. It is not considering cheaper alternatives even as the MoD itself suffers.
Reframing the Narratives on Nuclear Weapons for the Next Generation
It is a quarter of a century since the Cold War. Yet the debate over nuclear weapons has the shadow of that ideological struggle hanging over it, and investment decisions are being taken that will commit states to deploying nuclear weapons for half a century from now.
The state of the UK and European debates on nuclear weapons
On Thursday October 15th, BASIC and the Federation of American Scientists will hosted a joint discussion on the state of the UK and European nuclear weapons debates, and the importance of this in a global context.