The United States has developed the capability to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of its nuclear stockpile through technology and research—while foregoing explosive testing, said Acting Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Rose Gottemoeller in a speech urging ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. She noted in her Sept. 26 address in Washington, D.C., that’s it’s been 20 years since the United States conducted its last underground nuclear test on Sept. 23, 1992, and also 16 years since the United States signed the CTBT on Sept. 24, 1996. While the United States has maintained a two-decade moratorium on testing, ratification of the treaty would be a “significant affirmation” of the importance that the nation attributes to the international nonproliferation regime, she said. “By hastening the day the treaty enters into force, US ratification would concretely contribute to reducing the role of nuclear weapons in international security,” she asserted. Ratification “will be a difficult task,” acknowledged Gottemoeller. But the Obama Administration is committed to moving the treaty forward, as the security of the United States “and all states, will be enhanced when CTBT enters into force,” she said.
NORTHCOM’s Budget Priority: Longer Warning Time
April 14, 2021
Gen. Glen D. VanHerck's top priorities in the upcoming budget are domain awareness in the form of farther-seeing over-the-horizon radars, followed by submarine detection capabilities and joint all-domain command and control, the commander of U.S. Northern Command told members of the House Armed Services Committee on April 14. Before building…