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Ploughshares Blog: Navy

Subs Threaten Rest of Shipbuilding Budget
On the radar: Boomer budget bulge; Force-feeding missile defense; More sanctions; Palmetto plutonium pork; Hanford leaks; ICBM wing shortcomings; and Oak Ridge activists face up to 20-years in prison.   Read more »
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Posted on May 9, 2013
Why the Navy is not Paying for Missile Defense
The Navy’s Aegis missile defense system is the backbone of the Obama administration’s Phased Adaptive Approach to missile defense. So why isn’t the Navy paying anything for missile defense? The omission, revealed by Pentagon missile defense budget estimates, says a lot about Navy priorities during an era of tightening budgets. Read more »
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Posted by Ben Loehrke on August 27, 2012
Aegis, budget, DDG-51, Missile Defense, Missile Defense Agency, Navy, Nuclear Budget, Phased Adaptive Approach, Procurement, Sec. Ray Mabus, Sequestration, SM-3
Missile Defense Funds & the Budget Squeeze
On the radar: MDA picking up Army and Navy bills; Panetta says time for diplomacy; Kahl says strike is possible; Sick is skeptical; DPRK reactor construction; X-51A failed; and Skydivers accidentally land on submarine base.   Read more »
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Posted on August 15, 2012
Cold War Targeting Process Largely Unchanged
On the radar: GAO on targeting and requirements; NNSA is really bad at budget estimates; US Intel officials want Iran navy hotline; Iran’s nuclear naval plans; Senate Approps plumps up BMD; the Midas touch of nuclear weapons; White House tightens sanctions; Missile tracking ship starts sea trials; and That Time William F. Buckley wanted to nuke Vietnam.   Read more »
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Posted on August 1, 2012
Debating Iran, Nukes, and Stability
On the radar: Kahl and Waltz square off; Pickering on US-Russia Engagement; Iran looms large in Israeli politics; Radar into Qatar; Dropping “Precision” from PTSS; 8 Senators who want to spend more on nukes; U.S. schedules minesweeping exercise; and The five men who agreed to stand directly under a nuclear bomb.   Read more »
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Posted on July 18, 2012
Sinking the Navy with Excessive Nuclear Requirements
In tight budget times, the U.S. Navy cannot afford to waste funds on excessive capabilities for outdated Cold War weapons. Yet that is what some in Congress are attempting to do by blocking retirement of excess nuclear-armed submarines. As part of the Navy’s plan to replace its fleet nuclear-armed submarines, the Navy expects the number of subs in service to dip from 12 to 10 for much of the 2030s – a budget and strategy plan that the Navy believes is manageable. Read more »
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Posted by Ben Loehrke on May 14, 2012
Arms Control Association, budget, House, Navy, NDAA, Nuclear Budget, Spending, SSBN(X), Submarine, Submarines, United States Navy, Warheads, United States
Our Oscar Pick: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
It might not have received a nomination for Best Picture, but ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ is our stand out film this Oscar season. Its on-point depiction of tension between the United States and Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, not to mention the brilliant acting of Oscar-nominated Gary Oldman, make this spy thriller more than just an entertaining two hours of cinema. It’s a telling portrayal that makes reference to a problem that’s spanned decades – wasteful spending on nuclear weapons. Read more »
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Posted by Megan Murphy on February 24, 2012
Arms Control Association, budget, Ed Markey, Entertainment, Michael Douglas, Navy, Nuclear Budget, Pentagon, Russia, Soviet Union, United States