A Defense Science Board task force concluded the US must create a national strategy and implementation plan that unifies diverse nuclear-related agencies and departments, revamps monitoring to identify proliferators early, expands cooperation agreements, better utilizes open and commercial source reporting, and invests in and modernizes core capabilities. The 100-plus page report, released last month, examined both the US monitoring system and proposed improvements to existing capabilities. It included a wide-ranging assessment and analysis of US counter-proliferation monitoring and verification technologies across the Defense Department, intelligence community, and other agencies. “Closing the nation’s global nuclear monitoring gaps should be a national priority. It will require, however, a level of commitment and sustainment we don’t normally do well without a crisis,” wrote task force co-chairs Miriam John and Donald Kerr in a memo to the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics. “However, lessons from the past tell us that progress can be made with a sustained effort in which experienced and competent professionals can devote their careers to the quest and pass on their wisdom to successive generations.” (Full report; caution, large-sized file.)
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
