Inspection and verification of nuclear delivery platforms, particularly strategic bombers, would be “more intrusive in some ways than START,” under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, said Rose Gottemoeller, assistant secretary of state for arms control, Monday. “The verification regime for bombers is very intrusive, and allows for objects inside the bomb bays to be checked with radiation detection,” stated Gottemoeller, who was chief US negotiator for New START, at an Arms Control Association event in Washington, D.C. She said this would bring the rigor of bomber inspections much closer to that of missile re-entry vehicles. The inspection regime, she continued, would allow inspectors to confirm that “Russian bombers are not carrying nuclear objects,” while offering Russians inspectors similar assurance regarding the US fleet. Obama Administration officials last week made a renewed pitch for the Senate to ratify New START before year’s end.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
