The Soviets’ Dark Nuclear Romance
(War on the Rocks podcast) Once the Soviets got the nuclear arsenal Stalin had sought, they had to learn to live with the bomb – and all the dilemmas that came…
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Podvig
36 posts
Podvig: The value of New START is largely that it keeps the lines of communication open and it is the place for dialogue
(WVTF Radio/NPR) When President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office next month, he will have to deal with some very urgent business with Russian President Vladimir Putin. As NPR’s Lucian Kim…
Podvig: What one side sees as obfuscating, the other side considers it is strictly following the letter of the Treaty
(IISS Podcast) The collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty last year increased concerns that the international architecture around arms control was weakening further. With other agreements up for renewal or…
Podvig: Very few of Russia’s Avangard hypersonic glider tests were successful and the programme was nearly shut down four years ago
(The Economist) Tom lehrer’s satirical ditty on the Nazi-turned-American rocketeer was faithful to the essence of early missile development, whose principal challenge was hoisting the weapons into the sky. Gravity did most…
Podvig: Russia’s hypersonic weapons don’t fundamentally change much in terms of strategic balance and military capability
(FP) Normally inured to the fire and brimstone of Russian state TV, international audiences perked up their ears last month when a Sunday evening news show singled out a handful of…
Podvig: I don’t think this system [Russia’s Avangard] brings any new capability that the existing weapons like ICBMs don’t have
(Daily Beast) The United States, Russia, and China all tested new super-fast “hypersonic” munitions in 2018, escalating a global competition for weaponry that can strike farther and harder than ever…
Podvig: It’s possible there was a deliberate action by each side but it’s also possible neither side had a plan
(Daily Beast) Russian security forces deployed coast guard vessels, jet fighters, and attack helicopters in an overwhelming assault on three Ukrainian navy boats attempting to pass through the narrow, Russian-controlled strait…
Podvig: Russia will say that it was U.S. intent from the very beginning to pull out of the INF treaty
(TIME) President Donald Trump revealed Saturday the United States intends to withdraw from a 31-year-old nuclear weapons agreement with Russia, delivering a severe blow to the arms control regime that helped…
Podvig: Russian efforts to develop hypersonic glide vehicles are explicitly aimed at evading U.S. missile defense systems
Warnings of a Russian hypersonic weapon that the U.S. can’t defend against may have had you running for the bomb shelter last week. But what, exactly, is this weapon, and…
Podvig: My understanding of Russia’s Status-6 “nuclear torpedo”: it’s till kind of a paper project
(FOX News) Russia’s reported development of a formidable nuclear-powered torpedo or underwater drone is fueling concern about the potential devastation if the weapon were ever unleashed against U.S. cities. While there…