DefenceTalkDefenceTalkA former US defense secretary has called on President-elect Joe Biden to reform the system that gives sole control of the nation’s nuclear arsenal to the president, calling it “outdated, unnecessary and extremely dangerous.” The call from William Perry came the same day US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with the nation’s top military leader […]https://www.defencetalk.com/biden-urged-to-renounce-sole-control-of-us-nuclear-weapons-76655/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkNuclear-armed North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un vowed to strengthen its military capabilities at a key ruling party meeting, state media reported Thursday, just weeks before Joe Biden’s inauguration as US president. In his work report to the Workers’ Party congress Kim pledged to place “the state defence capabilities on a much higher level, and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-koreas-kim-pledges-to-strengthen-defence-capabilities-kcna-76635/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkA satellite-controlled machine gun with “artificial intelligence” was used in last week’s assassination of a top nuclear scientist in Iran, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards told local media Sunday. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was driving on a highway outside Iran’s capital Tehran with a security detail of 11 Guards on November 27, when the machine […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-says-scientist-killed-by-satellite-controlled-machine-gun-76584/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkIran said that Israel and an exiled opposition group used new and “complex” methods to assassinate its leading nuclear scientist, as it buried him Monday in a funeral befitting a top “martyr”. As it laid Mohsen Fakhrizadeh — seen by Israel as the “father” of Iran’s nuclear weapons programme — to rest, the Islamic republic […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-says-israel-exiled-group-killed-scientist-in-complex-operation-76569/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkIran has nothing to gain from ending inspections of its nuclear facilities, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog warned as tensions rise after a top Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated. In an interview with AFP after a year in office, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi issued the appeal in response to calls by Iranian […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-has-nothing-to-gain-from-halting-inspections-grossi-76566/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkAn international treaty banning nuclear weapons is on the verge of coming into force, campaigners said Wednesday, with the last few necessary ratifications expected within weeks. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — which bans the use, development, production, testing, stationing, stockpiling and threat of use of such weapons — was adopted by […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nuclear-weapons-ban-treaty-nears-coming-into-force-76505/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkRussia said on Tuesday it was ready to offer the United States a mutual one-year freeze on the number of nuclear warheads held by both countries in order to extend a landmark arms reduction deal due to expire next year. “Russia offers to extend the New START by one year and is ready to take […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-offers-us-one-year-freeze-on-nuclear-warhead-numbers-76498/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkNorth Korea is violating international sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear programme by exceeding a cap on petroleum imports and sending its workers overseas, including a former Juventus footballer, the United Nations said. Pyongyang is subject to a range of restrictions imposed since 2017 that limit its oil imports and ban exports of coal, fish […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-flouting-nuclear-sanctions-un-report-76411/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkIran’s Atomic Energy Organization said on Sunday that “sabotage” was the cause of an explosion that damaged the Natanz nuclear facility last month. “Security investigations confirm this was sabotage and what is certain is that an explosion took place in Natanz,” said spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi. “But how this explosion took place and with what materials… […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-says-sabotage-caused-natanz-blast-iaea-head-to-visit-to-iran-on-monday-76190/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkDeveloping and deploying a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile is essential to deter Russia, U.S. officials have said. A recent State Department paper says the new weapon would help fill a gap identified in the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review. The United States retired its last nuclear sea-launched cruise missile in 2010 — one of only two […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nuke-sea-launched-cruise-missile-would-bolster-deterrence-officials-say-76136/