Arms limitation

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ArmChairCivvy
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Joined: 05 May 2015, 21:34
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Arms limitation

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

The news on this front come only sporadically, make headlines and then disappear for years. So a dedicated thread...

Russia nixed an agreement on killer robots.

China is testing lasers routinely on US warplanes.

Trump nixed INF (though Russia had turned it into a dead letter years ahead of the formality; Putin acknowledged that the treaty will go, in his favourite Valdav Forum, about two years ahead of the fact).

Enter Start, the newest expiring a quarter of a year after the US elections. Looks like the bargaining chips are:
- a nuclear torp that can swim autonomously all the way to NY City
- new types of cruise missiles (nuclear powered? What was it that went 'bang' in the tests over the White Sea, not so long ago?)
- missile defence (US lead)
- space weapons (was the setting up of Space Command just to flag the US leading in this field, and underlining the intention to keep it up?)
... perhaps more. 'All things nuclear' eat up a third of Russia's defence budget and hence from the four commands (army, AF, Strategic Forces - of which the boomers are part of - and the rest of the navy) one, at least, is always doomed to lag behind. Right now it looks like that part has fallen onto the surface navy.
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)


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