DefenceTalkDefenceTalkNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons guarantee its safety, state media reported Tuesday, signalling once again that it will not give up its arsenal. Kim was addressing a conference of veterans on the 67th anniversary of the 1953 armistice that ended Korean War hostilities, the official Korean Central News Agency […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-koreas-kim-says-nuclear-deterrent-crucial-76068/

DefenceTalkThe United States maintains a robust nuclear arsenal that consists of ground-based, air-launched and sea-launched weapons. Together, it’s commonly called the “nuclear triad,” and it remains the centerpiece of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. The triad is fast approaching the end of its service life and must quickly be replaced before it’s lost. Victorino G. Mercado, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-seeks-to-maintain-credible-nuclear-deterrent-74596/

DefenceTalkNew British Prime Minster Theresa May on Monday won her first parliamentary battle when MPs overwhelmingly voted to replace the ageing submarines that carry Britain’s nuclear arsenal. In her first address to the House of Commons since taking office last week following the EU referendum, May warned that the threat from nuclear weapons was increasing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/british-mps-back-new-pm-and-vote-to-update-nuclear-deterrent-67861/

DefenceTalkMinuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that make up one part of the American nuclear deterrent remain highly relevant to security. The ICBM force provides many benefits that other strategic systems do not: they shorten the time needed to execute the president’s response to a nuclear attack, increase the total number of targets an adversary […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-icbms-necessary-to-secure-the-american-strategic-deterrent-66813/

DefenceTalkBritain’s future as a nuclear-armed nation could be thrown into doubt if Scotland votes for independence on September 18, experts say, raising serious questions about its future status in the international community. The UK’s Trident nuclear submarines are currently based at Faslane naval base on a sea loch west of Glasgow surrounded by dramatic mountain […]https://www.defencetalk.com/scottish-independence-may-force-uk-nuclear-deterrent-rethink-60541/

DefenceTalkDefence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned it would be “reckless” to downgrade the UK’s nuclear deterrent ahead of the release of a Liberal Democrat-led review of alternatives to replacing the Royal Navy’s fleet of Trident submarines. The Lib Dems have opposed the like-for-like replacement of the Trident system, and the review of alternatives led by […]https://www.defencetalk.com/uk-government-remains-committed-to-trident-48488/

DefenceTalkBy Rear Adm. Richard Breckenridge, Director, Undersea Warfare, OPNAV N97 There has been a good deal of conversation recently debating the size of the Navy’s ballistic missile submarine force and need for a nuclear deterrent. Some of the information used in this reporting references SSBN patrol data available to the public that is limited in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/navy-responds-to-debate-over-the-size-of-the-ssbn-force-47810/