August 09, 2016
The nuclear mission must stay manned
A lot of things can and should be automated—but nuclear bombers are not one of them.
Unfortunately, it’s not clear that Moscow agrees.Reports surfaced in July that Russia has begun development of a hypersonic nuclear bomber that can deliver nuclear strikes from outer space. Unnamed officials quoted in the semi-official Russian news organPravda say that the bomber will have an unmanned variant. Their statement has not been confirmed, but the idea that Russia would pursue an unmanned nuclear bomber is not new. The commander of Russia’s long-range aviation fleet, Lt. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, stated in 2012 that Russia was considering developing a “pilotless” sixth-generation nuclear bomber.
To read the full article, visit The Bulletin's website.
More from CNAS
-
US-Iran War Risks Repeated Cycles of Fighting
Video
Shifting US objectives and neither side able to secure a decisive military victory make a lasting resolution difficult and Bloomberg Economics Defense Lead and adjunct senior ...
By Becca Wasser
-
Iran and the U.S. Are Trapped In a War Neither Knows How to Win
Commentary
Both the US and Iran have adopted military strategies that can prevent defeat but cannot produce a decisive victory....
By Becca Wasser
-
GenAI.mil and Three Implications for National Security’s AI Era
Commentary
Introduction Roughly six months ago, the Department of War (DoW) launched its internal platform for hosting generative artificial intelligence (AI) models, known as GenAI.mil....
By Joshua Marcuse
-
Inside Taiwan’s Plan to Deter a Chinese Invasion
Video
As Taiwan runs its largest annual war games this week, we look at its strategy of overwhelming any Chinese invasion force with mass-produced, low-cost drones. It's a defense s...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
