Nuclear (Page 3)

Latest in Nuclear

Israel's air campaign against Iran's missiles and launch systems appears to be having an effect.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Israeli Airstrikes Blunt Iranian Long-Range Ballistic Missile Threat (Updated)

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Jun 17, 2025

A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, refuels a U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft during exercise RAMSTEIN FLAG 2024 while flying over the coast of Greece, Oct. 4, 2024. RAFL24 demonstrates NATO unity and strength, as Allies across the Euro-Atlantic area train side by side in defensive and offensive air operations scenarios in support of the enduring commitment to shared values and ability to adapt to the emerging environment.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

U.S. Air Force Fighters Deploy To Reinforce Middle East

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jun 17, 2025

Spike launcher found in Iran after attacks by Mossad agents.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Spike Missiles That Destroyed Air Defenses From Inside Iran Were Remotely Operated

By Howard Altman

Posted on Jun 16, 2025

28 tankers were sent out over the Atlantic heading east tonight.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Armada Of USAF Tankers Just Deployed East Over Atlantic Spurring Speculation (Updated)

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Jun 16, 2025

The aircraf carrier USS Nimitz has recently seen its service life extended, a sign of stress on the fleet.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Major U.S. Middle East-Focused Buildup Confirmed (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman

Posted on Jun 16, 2025

Israel strikes Iranian F-14 tomcat.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Iranian F-14 ‘Persian Tomcats’ Obliterated In Israeli Airstrike

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Jun 16, 2025

The Israeli military claims it has destroyed one third of Iran’s long-range surface-to-surface missile launchers since the start of the conflict. For now, however, Iran is still launching missile strikes against Israel, with overnight attacks having killed at least eight people, according to Israeli sources.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

One Third Of Iran’s Long-Range Missile Launchers Destroyed, Israel Claims (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Posted on Jun 16, 2025

Iran and Israel continue to trade blows late on Saturday and into Sunday. On the Israeli side, the strikes constitute the latest phase of Operation Rising Lion, a campaign designed to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability and long-range weapons capacity. For its part, Tehran continues to launch barrage of retaliatory missile strikes at Israel, with reportedly killed at least 10 people and injured more than 100 overnight.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

IAF Destroys Iranian Aerial Tanker 1,400 miles From Israel, Farthest Strike Yet (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Jun 15, 2025

Israel is now attacking Iranian energy facilities after warning it would if Iran didn't stop hitting Israeli urban areas.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Israel Escalates To Attacking Iranian Energy Targets After Ballistic Missiles Hit Tel Aviv (Updated)

By Howard Altman

Updated on Jun 15, 2025

Israeli officials are warning that the strikes that began to be launched against Iran overnight are just the start phase of a wider operation.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Israel’s Operation To Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program Enters New Phase (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Jun 13, 2025

Israel strikes Iran's nuclear program.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Israel Launches Operation Rising Lion To Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program (Updated)

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jun 13, 2025

Israel hand commando teams inside Iran attack air defenses
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Israeli Commandos Attacked Iranian Air Defenses With Drones From Inside The Country: Report

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Jun 13, 2025

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has called into question the viability of using the C-130J Hercules cargo aircraft as the basis for a new plane, called the E-130J, to support the U.S. Navy's Take Charge And Move Out (TACAMO) mission.
Nuclear Command And Control

Choice Of C-130 For New Navy ‘Doomsday Plane’ Questioned In Watchdog Report

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Jun 12, 2025

An artist's rendering of the Long Range Standoff Weapon is shown.
Long-Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO)

First Glimpse Of Air Force’s New Stealth Nuclear Cruise Missile

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Jun 11, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump has been presented with a broad array of potential military options against Iran should ongoing nuclear negotiations with that country fail.
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Growing Fears of Massive Strikes On Iran As Nuclear Negotiations Sputter

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 10, 2025

The Submarine Dismantling Project (SDP) finally started at Rosyth in December 2016, around 15 years behind schedule.
Nuclear History

A Royal Navy Nuclear Submarine Is Being Scrapped For The First Time

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jun 6, 2025

The U.S. Navy has quietly awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to strip useful parts from an ex-Royal Air Force (RAF) E-3D Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft before disposing of it.
Nuclear Command And Control

Plan To Turn Ex-RAF E-3 AWACS Into E-6B ‘Doomsday’ Jet Trainer Abandoned By Navy

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 5, 2025

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) claims it show down a Russian jet target drone converted to be a weapon.
Ground-Launched Nuclear Cruise Missile

Weaponized Russian Jet-Powered Target Drone Shot Down Over Black Sea: Ukraine

By Howard Altman

Posted on May 30, 2025

Russia is introducing new nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles as part of an overall expansion of its nuclear forces, according to an assessment from the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA. While nuclear-armed air-to-air missiles were part of the Soviet Union’s armory during the Cold War, their current status within the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), is little-known, which makes the disclosure from this U.S. intelligence agency all the more intriguing.
Air Launched Nuclear Missles

Russia Fielding New Nuclear-Armed Air-To-Air Missiles: U.S. Intel

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 21, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced his plans for the "Golden Dome," a national ballistic and cruise missile defense system. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Nuclear Ballistic Missiles

Trump’s Golden Dome Missile Shield: What We Just Learned And Its Implications

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway

Updated on May 21, 2025

The first production example of the new B61-13 nuclear bomb has been completed roughly a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Nuclear Bombs

Far More Powerful B61-13 Guided Nuclear Bomb Variant Joins U.S. Stockpile

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 19, 2025

As the dust settles, for now, on the latest clashes between India and Pakistan, it’s clear that the nations’ respective air forces played a very active role in the fighting. At this stage, details of what happened are still extremely hard to come by, with seemingly endless claims and counterclaims, especially around possible shootdowns, and very little in the way of verifiable facts about how the air-to-air engagements played out. However, many observers are already pointing to the potentially significant impact of the Pakistan Air Force’s Chinese-made Chengdu J-10C multirole fighters, as well as their vaunted PL-15 air-to-air missiles.
India-Pakistan Nuclear Standoff

China’s J-10C Fighter: Separating Myth From Reality

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 15, 2025

Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt General Rajiv Ghai with Air Marshal AK Bharti, Vice Admiral AN Pramod during a press conference on 'Operation Sindoor' at National Media Centre, on May 12, 2025 in New Delhi, India. Senior officers from the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force addressed the nation, revealing details of Operation Sindoor, a coordinated military strike carried out on May 7 targeting terror bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Punjab province. Officers confirmed that over 100 terrorists were killed during the operation. The strikes were launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people.
India-Pakistan Nuclear Standoff

Claims Swirl As India And Pakistan Assess Results Of Latest Conflict

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on May 13, 2025

Reports of the air war that’s been taking place between India and Pakistan in recent days suggest what may well be the most intense series of aerial engagements for decades. While it’s still very hard to obtain confirmed details of this combat, which some sources state has involved more than a hundred fighters simultaneously, we do, at least, know what kinds of air-to-air missiles (AAMs) are available to the Indian and Pakistan Air Forces.
India-Pakistan Nuclear Standoff

The Air-To-Air Missiles That Equip India And Pakistan’s Fighters

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on May 8, 2025

The air war currently unfolding between India and Pakistan is exceedingly murky, but one aspect that seems almost certain is the use of the Chinese-made PL-15 active-radar-guided air-to-air missile (AAM) by Pakistan. So far, Pakistan claims to have shot down five Indian aircraft and at least one Indian official has reportedly confirmed the crash of three aircraft but cautioned that the reasons were not clear. Unverified imagery suggests that one of the Indian Air Force’s prized Rafale multirole fighters may have been shot down. Regardless, the fighting between the two nuclear-armed states is the most intense for decades, now with the growing risk of the situation spiraling further out of control.
India-Pakistan Nuclear Standoff

China’s PL-15 Air-To-Air Missile Appears To Have Been Used In Combat For The First Time

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on May 7, 2025

India Strikes, Pakistan Responds, Claims Of Aircraft Losses Mount (Updated)
India-Pakistan Nuclear Standoff

India Strikes, Pakistan Responds, Claims Of Aircraft Losses Mount (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on May 6, 2025

Imagery has emerged showing North Korea’s heavily armed new frigate, the Choi Hyon, firing a variety of weapons from its huge array of vertical launch system (VLS) cells. The missiles seen appear to include a previously unknown air defense missile and a possible new supersonic cruise missile.
Nuclear Proliferation

North Korea’s New Frigate Tests Its Weapons Days After Commissioning

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 30, 2025

North Korea Frigate
North Korea Nuclear Crisis

North Korea’s New Frigate Has Ballistic Missile Launchers

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Apr 27, 2025

French Air and Space Force Rafale fighters from a nuclear-strike-tasked unit are among the aircraft taking part in a power-projection exercise including operations over Sweden, which joined NATO a little over a year ago. The latest edition of the Pégase (Pegasus) drill comes as European NATO members look at bolstering their nuclear deterrence capabilities independent of the United States, with France very much at the center of these discussions. Notably, the maneuvers are being also accompanied by an exercise in which French military aircraft were rapidly dispersed to alternative airfields, something that would be required in a large-scale conflict with Russia.
Air Launched Nuclear Missles

French Rafale Fighters Project Power Forward To Sweden

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 23, 2025

Northrop Grumman has blamed higher manufacturing costs for its B-21 Raider stealth bomber for a 49 percent drop in first-quarter profit. This is not the first financial hit for the B-21, with the manufacturer having disclosed a loss of nearly $1.2 billion on the program early last year. The latest news comes as U.S. Air Force officials state a need for 145 of the stealth bombers to cope with increasing threats to U.S. security.
Nuclear

Rising B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Costs Hit Northrop Grumman

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Apr 22, 2025

France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Mirage 2000 (L) and a Dassault Rafale (R) fighter aircrafts during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025.
Air Launched Nuclear Missles

France To Expand Its Nuclear Deterrent With New Air Base

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 18, 2025

While it has long been a world-ending threat in science fiction, U.S. Air Force and Space Force officials see artificial intelligence (AI) playing important, if not critical roles in the command and control enterprise at the heart of America's nuclear deterrent capabilities.
Nuclear Command And Control

How The Military Wants AI To Help Control America’s Nuclear Arsenal

By Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Mar 7, 2025

In this handout image provided by the U.S. Air Force, 492nd FS commander, prepare to taxi their F-15E Strike Eagle prior to their departure from RAF Lakenheath in preparation for Operation Odyssey Dawn missions March 19, 2011 in Lakenheath, United, Kingdom. Approximately 112 cruise missiles fired from U.S. and British ships and submarines targeting about 20 radar and anti-aircraft sites along Libya's Mediterranean coast.
B61-12

USAF Air Base In England Is Nuclear Capable Again: Watchdog Report

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 27, 2025

France is apparently looking at the possibility of deploying air-launched nuclear weapons to Germany, a consideration that’s being made amid growing concerns that the United States will no longer guarantee European security under NATO. Broader discussions about nuclear deterrence among European leaders points very clearly to the deepening crisis in the transatlantic alliance under U.S. President Donald Trump.
B61

France Eyeing Deployment Of Nuclear-Armed Rafale Fighters To Germany: Report

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 25, 2025

Top Ukrainian nuclear experts are concerned that the drone strike on the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant radiation shield could have lasting affects.
Nuclear Power

Hole Blasted By Drone In Chernobyl’s Radiation Shield: What We Know

By Howard Altman

Posted on Feb 14, 2025

A U.S. Air Force Convair B-36B-1-CF Peacemaker (s/n 44-92033) of the 7th Bombardment Wing in flight, in 1949. This aircraft was retired to the MASDC on 19 November 1956.
Nuclear Bombs

America’s First Broken Arrow Incident Happened 75 Years Ago

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Feb 14, 2025

While the 1950s was a time of truly unusual and fast-paced innovation in military aerospace, one of the more bizarre projects was for a nuclear-armed, liquid-fueled development of the Sidewinder air-to-air missile.
Air Launched Nuclear Missles

The Navy Nearly Built A Nuclear Armed “Super Sidewinder” Air-To-Air Missile

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 1, 2025

A detail model has provided what’s likely our best idea of how the U.K. Royal Navy’s new Dreadnought class nuclear ballistic submarine, or SSBN will appear. The four Dreadnought ‘bombers’ represent one of the most important U.K. defense programs for many years and it’s notable to see how many advanced features the design includes, as the Royal Navy seeks to find the optimum balance between speed, stealth, and firepower. The four new SSBNs will replace the Vanguard class that entered service in the 1990s.
UGM-133 Trident II (D5)

Our Best Look Yet At Britain’s New Dreadnought Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Design

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 31, 2025

More new variants of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb could be on the horizon for the U.S. military.
B61-12

Hints At More B61 Nuclear Bomb Variants In The U.S. Military’s Future

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 7, 2025

Jimmy Carter on a submarine.
Nuclear

The Time Navy Lt. Jimmy Carter Was Lowered Into A Partially Melted-Down Nuclear Reactor

By Geoff Ziezulewicz

Posted on Dec 30, 2024

North Korea's new warship with VLS and phased array radar.
Nuclear Proliferation

North Korea’s New Warship Appears To Be Designed For Vertical Launch System, Phased Array Radar

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Dec 30, 2024

Salem Nuclear Power Plant in New Jersey was one of 22 energy infrastructure sites in the state that the FAA banned drone flights over.
Nuclear

Nuclear Power Plants Report Massive Uptick In Drone Sightings

By Howard Altman

Updated on Dec 21, 2024

Navy’s Future E-130J TACAMO ‘Doomsday Plane’ Seen In New Rendering
Nuclear Command And Control

Navy’s Future E-130J TACAMO ‘Doomsday Plane’ Seen In New Rendering

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 19, 2024

A view of the scene after Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Defense Troops, and his assistant were killed in an explosion in Moscow, Russia on December 17, 2024. The blast was caused by an explosive device planted in an electric scooter, Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee, said in a video statement on Telegram.
Nuclear

Russian General Accused Of Using Chemical Weapons Assassinated By Ukraine

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Dec 17, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised the possibility of forward deploying new conventionally-armed Oreshnik missiles capable of carrying multiple warheads in neighboring Belarus in the latter half of next year.
ICBMs

Experimental Ballistic Missile Russia Used On Ukraine Could Be Headed To Belarus

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Dec 6, 2024

While it has turned out that the RS-26-based Oreshnik that Russia fired at Ukraine was not a conventionally-armed ICBM, it still highlights the very real interest in, if not more active development and even potential fielding of, a weapon of that kind globally.
ICBMs

Conventionally Armed ICBM Concept Highlighted By Unprecedented Russian Missile Attack On Ukraine

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Nov 22, 2024

A RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile vehicle during the rehearsals for the Victory Day Military Parade at the polygon, on April 18, 2022 in Alabino, outside of Moscow, Russia. About 12,000 soldiers and officers are expected to take pat at the Red Square Victory Day Military Parade, planned on May 9.
ICBMs

The Story Of Russia’s Secretive RS-26 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Nov 22, 2024

Submarine launches tomahawk cruise missile.
Nuclear History

Pros And Cons Of The Navy’s Controversial Submarine-Launched Nuclear Cruise Missile

By Geoff Ziezulewicz

Posted on Nov 21, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country's forces fired a previously unknown medium-range hypersonic missile called Oreshnik at Ukraine earlier today.
ICBMs

Russia’s Experimental Ballistic Missile Used To Strike Ukraine Is Based On The RS-26 Rubezh

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Nov 21, 2024

Ukraine claims Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the city of Dmipro.
ICBMs

Russia’s Unprecedented Ballistic Missile Attack On Ukraine: What We Know

By Howard Altman, Thomas Newdick

Posted on Nov 21, 2024

The U.S. military has not seen demonstrable evidence of North Korea successfully testing a re-entry vehicle capable of bringing a nuclear warhead back down to Earth through the atmosphere, according to America's top officer in the Pacific region.
ICBMs

ICBM Reentry Vehicle Capability Still Unproven By North Korea, U.S. Military Says

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Nov 20, 2024

Ukraine has used the U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) for the first time against a target inside Russia. The announcement comes soon after Moscow warned that the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine against Russia could trigger a nuclear response, after Russian nuclear war plans were updated.
Nuclear Policy

U.S.-Supplied ATACMS Missile Strike Inside Russia Have Begun

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Nov 19, 2024

North Korea has tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that it claims is its longest-ranged so far. The announcement of the test of the Hwasong-19 comes amid large-scale U.S.-South Korean military maneuvers during which their aircraft have bombed mock-ups of North Korean ballistic missile launchers.
North Korea Nuclear Crisis

North Korea’s New ICBM May Have Biggest Transporter-Erector-Launcher We’ve Ever Seen

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Nov 1, 2024

NATO Flexes With Simultaneous Nuclear Strike And Naval Warfare Exercises
B61

NATO Flexes With Simultaneous Nuclear Strike And Naval Warfare Exercises

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Oct 25, 2024

B-2 MOP Yemen iran
Iran Nuclear Crisis

B-2 Spirits Just Sent A Very Ominous Message To Iran

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Oct 17, 2024

A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a ceremony on September 6 to celebrate the launch of a newly built "tactical nuclear attack submarine" during a news program at the Yongsanl Railway Station. North Korea has launched a newly built "tactical nuclear attack submarine" capable of carrying out an underwater nuclear attack, with leader Kim Jong Un vowing to "further strengthen the state nuclear deterrence," the North's state media said on September 8. (
Nuclear Proliferation

Signs Point To North Korea Building A Nuclear-Powered Submarine: South Korean Intel

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Oct 9, 2024

Recreation of early nuclear age plutonium pit
Nuclear Ballistic Missiles

First Plutonium Pit For Nuclear Warhead Produced In The U.S. In 35 Years Is Now “Weapon-Ready”

By Howard Altman

Posted on Oct 4, 2024

For the first time in more than four decades, China has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) out in the Western Pacific, ostensibly for training purposes.
ICBMs

First Chinese ICBM Test Into The Pacific In Decades Is A Big Deal (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 25, 2024

Israel raid
Iran Nuclear Crisis

Israeli Commando Raid In Syria Sends A Message To Iran That Its Underground Bases Are Not Untouchable

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick

Updated on Sep 13, 2024

India has reportedly introduced to service its second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, or SSBN, INS Arighat, marking a significant development in the country’s burgeoning strategic nuclear capability. The new submarine, armed with indigenously developed ballistic missiles, is understood to incorporate improvements over its predecessor, although India’s SSBN fleet, and its nuclear forces in general, continue to be hugely outstripped by those of China, its main strategic rival.
SLBMs

India’s Improved Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine Enters Service

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 29, 2024

Nulcear Warhead inventory released by NNSA
Nuclear

Just How Many Nuclear Weapons Does The U.S. Actually Have?

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on Jul 30, 2024

The ballooning cost of the US Air Force's Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program is one of the drivers behind uncertainly over the future of its sixth-generation combat jet effort, which could evolve into a fully uncrewed platform.
ICBMs

Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter Uncertainty Tied To Sentinel ICBM Woes

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 24, 2024

W76-1 warhead
Nuclear Policy

Current American Nuclear Warhead Inventory Numbers Revealed

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jul 22, 2024

B-2 sprit taking off.
Nuclear

B-2 Stealth Bomber’s Latest Upgrade Is Here

By Thomas Newdick

Updated on Jul 17, 2024