The United States and Russia each completed 18 on-site nuclear inspections—the maximum permitted under the New START agreement each year—since the treaty entered force last February, according to a State Department release marking the first year of treaty implementation. The two countries also exchanged 1,800 “notifications” under the treaty’s terms during the past year. “Every time a heavy bomber is moved out of its home country for more than 24 hours” for example, the United States notified Russia through the treaty’s risk-reduction centers, according to the Feb. 3 release. In addition, the Air Force displayed the B-2A stealth bomber for the Russians and conducted a one-time exhibition to show them that “B-1B heavy bombers are no longer capable of employing nuclear armaments,” states the release. In exchange, the Russians allowed US observers first-time access to the RS-24 mobile ICBM system, capable of carrying multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles.
Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…