“Russia is probably developing a nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered underwater vehicle,” U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency says in itsGlobal Nuclear Landscape report
- DIA refers to a 2015 Russian state media report that said the govt may be developing a delivery system known as “Status-6,” which is “allegedly a ‘robotic mini-submarine’ capable of 100 knots with a range of 5,400 nautical miles,” DIA says
- NOTE: Status-6 drone is among Russian weapons listed by Pentagon inNuclear Posture Review as indicative of new capabilities
- DIA also says multiple countries, particularly those with less established weapons programs, seek to build “ever smaller and more sophisticated nuclear weapons.” though their “technical ambitions may lead to compromises in safety” that “could make a weapons accident more likely”
- North Korea is developing a wide variety of new delivery systems, and China is developing a mobile missile with multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicles, DIA says in report based on open source information in response to request by House Armed Services Cmte to provide a document on certain foreign nuclear arms-related capabilities, programs and doctrine
- China’s four Jin class SSBNs are capable of carrying 12 JL-2 sea-launched ballistic missiles
- Estimated range could allow targeting parts of U.S. from operating areas near Chinese coast, DIA says
- Developing North Korean nuclear capability, “along with high-level statements of nuclear usage at first sign of a U.S. strike, suggests potential for usage at any stage of conflict when North Korea believes itself to be in regime-ending danger,” DIA says
- North Korea’s six successive nuclear tests since 2006 have “demonstrated higher explosive yield, according to seismic data”
- North Korea “has exclusively used underground nuclear test facility in the vicinity of Punggye for nuclear tests”: DIA
Measure
Measure