Overview of U.S. nuclear arsenal, Congress requests report on drone surveillance and much more. From the Blogs Congress Requires a Report from DoD on Drone Surveillance: Congress has directed the Secretary of Defense to report on the handling of surveillance data collected by drones operating in domestic airspace. This provision in the 2013 continuing appropriations [...]
U.S. nuclear stockpile reductions, radiation and health, accessories for small arms and light weapons, and much more. From the Blogs Senators Ask Surveillance Court to Summarize Opinions: Several members of the Senate Intelligence Committee wrote to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court this month to ask the Court to prepare summaries of classified opinions that represent [...]
Meteors and nukes, additional delays for B61-12, and much more. From the Blogs A New Judge for the FISA Court: Judge Claire V. Eagan of the Northern District of Oklahoma was appointed this month to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by the Chief Justice of the United States. The FIS Court authorizes electronic surveillance [...]
De-alerting nuclear weapons, Army use of drones, North Korea’s test and much more. From the Blogs Army Use of Drones in U.S. is Constrained, Not Prohibited: There are significant barriers to the Army’s use of unmanned aerial systems within the United States, according to a new Army manual, but they are not prohibitive or categorical. [...]
Letter to Congress on B61 Bomb, DoD Special Access Programs and much more. From the Blogs Spotlight on DoD Special Access Programs: The procedures for establishing, managing and overseeing special access programs (SAPs) in the Department of Defense are spelled out in an updated DoD Instruction that was issued on February 6. A special access [...]
U.S. drone policy, new CRS reports and much more. From the Blogs Drone Programs Spark Budgetary, Privacy, Legal Concerns: The development of unmanned aerial systems (or drones) for military and civilian applications appears to be accelerating faster than the normal policy process can adapt to it. The use of drones in U.S. air space has [...]
Former CIA officer sentenced for leak, Pentagon relaxes censorship of Afghan war memoir and much more. From the Blogs ODNI Releases FY 2009 Budget Book (Redacted): The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released a heavily redacted version of its Congressional Budget Justification Book for Fiscal Year 2009 in response to a request [...]
U.S. and North Korea relations, disposal of nuclear weapons components and much more. From the Blogs Strategy Lacking for Disposal of Nuclear Weapons Components: According to an internal Department of Energy contractor report, there is a “large inventory” of classified nuclear weapons components “scattered across” the nation’s nuclear weapons complex and awaiting disposal. But, there [...]
New debate on cyber security, sailors sue TEPCO and much more. Up for Debate: U.S. Cyber Policy The United States has incorporated cyber security into its foreign policy, using the Stuxnet worm to destroy nearly 1,000 Iranian centrifuges in June 2012. Countries such as Iran are also using cyber technologies to cause disruptions such as [...]
Iran’s intelligence ministry, intelligence oversight and public accountability, new CRS reports and much more. From the Blogs Senate Passes Intelligence Bill Without Anti-Leak Measures: On December 28, the Senate passed the FY2013 intelligence authorization act after most of the controversial provisions intended to combat leaks had been removed. The provisions that were removed from the [...]