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As Capt. Tom Davis stands at the tailgate of the military cargo plane, the night air sweeps through the hold. His eyes search the black terrain 1,200 feet below. He grips the canvas of his reserve parachute and takes a deep breath. Davis and the men who make up his Special Forces A-team are among the most highly trained soldiers in the U.S. Army. It's 1972, and Davis isn't far removed from a tour in Vietnam, where he operated along the Cambodian border. His communications sergeant served in Command and Control North, which was responsible for some of the most...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The plea heard from the conference floor, from nation after nation, seems simple: Since we don't have nuclear weapons, please guarantee you won't use yours on us. It's the U.S. response - no - that isn't so simple, entangled as it is in the secret plans and dark visions of nuclear strategists. Demands for a treaty enshrining such guarantees are a major issue before the U.N. conference that opened this week to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the 1970 pact by which more than 180 nations renounce atomic bombs forever in exchange for a pledge by...

WASHINGTON — A House subcommittee told the administration Wednesday to rethink some of its plans for nuclear weapons, including development of a "bunker buster" warhead. The panel refused to provide money for development of a nuclear bunker buster, a weapon that can destroy a deeply buried target. It also denied funding for research into the feasibility of a low-yield "mini-nuke" warhead and for work on a new plant to produce plutonium triggers for the warheads. The programs, while relatively small in terms of funding during the fiscal year beginning in October, have been a priority of the National Nuclear Security...

BRITAIN is on the verge of abandoning its long-range nuclear missiles in favour of cheaper ‘mini-nukes’ that could be used to strike rogue states, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. A decision on whether to replace the ageing Trident system has to be taken by the end of the decade but a secret MoD poll suggests there would be enormous public opposition to spending tens of billions on new missiles. Ministers and MoD chiefs are understood to be in advanced negotiations with the United States over developing a new range of much smaller and cheaper nuclear weapons that could be used...

The case for new low-yield nukes. No one likes to consider the possibility of nuclear war. But somebody's got to do it, and that sober duty fell recently to a special task force of the Defense Science Board, which has just recommended useful changes to the U.S. strategic arsenal to fit our post-September 11 world. First we should note what the task force does not want to change--the high threshold for use of nuclear weapons. "It is, and will likely remain, American policy to keep the nuclear threshold high and to pursue non-nuclear attack options whenever possible. Nothing in our...

No one likes to consider the possibility of nuclear war. But somebody's got to do it, and that sober duty fell recently to a special task force of the Defense Science Board, which has just recommended useful changes to the U.S. strategic arsenal to fit our post-September 11 world. First we should note what the task force does not want to change — the high threshold for use of nuclear weapons. "It is, and will likely remain, American policy to keep the nuclear threshold high and to pursue non-nuclear attack options whenever possible. Nothing in our assessment or recommendations seeks...

WASHINGTON - A panel of independent advisers is counseling the Pentagon to develop smaller, specialized nuclear weapons using money saved from cutting back on the number of older nuclear warheads and their attendant maintenance costs. The Pentagon has already earmarked $500 million over the next five years for research into a "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator," a nuclear missile that could burrow into underground bunkers to attack an enemy's nuclear or chemical missile programs. The program is controversial: The United States has not produced a new nuclear weapon in more than a decade, and has not tested its warheads with an...

A leaked Pentagon document has confirmed that the US is considering the introduction of a new breed of smaller nuclear weapons designed for use in conventional warfare. Such a move would mean abandoning global arms treaties. The document, obtained by the Los Alamos Study Group, a nuclear weapons watchdog based in the US, describes plans for a gathering of senior military officials and nuclear scientists at the US Strategic Command in Omaha, Nebraska, during the week of 4 August. The meeting would discuss further development, testing and introduction of a new generation of low-yield nuclear weapons. These weapons, with a...

Pentagon wants 'mini-nukes' to fight terrorists By Julian Coman in Washington (Filed: 26/10/2003) Influential advisers at the Pentagon are backing the development of a new generation of low-yield nuclear weapons - so-called mini-nukes - in a controversial report to be published this autumn. The document, entitled Future Strategic Strike Force, has been produced by the Defence Science Board, which has a Pentagon brief to "transform the nation's armed forces to meet the demands placed on them by a changing world order". US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld The DSB's findings envisage a revamped nuclear arsenal made up of small-scale missiles whose...

Bush's Dangerous Nuclear Double StandardWith the White House pushing for new types of warheads, other nations may not heed the call for nonproliferation. COMMENTARY By Edward M. Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein, Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence. President Bush is expected to go to the United Nations today and, with Iran and North Korea obviously in mind, make a strong plea for nuclear nonproliferation. But the president's words may ring hollow to much of the world because here at home...

The U.S. Senate yesterday approved the Bush administration’s full request for research into new types of nuclear weapons, rejecting a Democratic effort to eliminate funding for those and other nuclear weapon activities (see GSN, Sept. 16). The Senate voted 53-41 to reject an amendment offered by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) that would have eliminated $21 million requested by the Bush administration to explore earth-penetrating and low-yield nuclear weapons. Their amendment would also have delayed site selection for a new plutonium “pit” production facility and ended an effort to reduce the time needed to prepare for resuming...

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans defeated Tuesday an effort to block the Bush administration from making new battlefield mini-nuclear weapons and resuming underground nuclear tests. The largely party-line vote, 53-41, killed a measure sponsored by Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein of California. It was similar to legislation that the Republican-led House of Representatives endorsed in June despite White House objections. The Bush administration worries that conventional warheads won't destroy deeply buried chemical, biological or nuclear arsenals. It wants to develop nuclear warheads that could destroy enemy bunkers and "mini-nukes" that could be used by U.S. troops on...

WASHINGTON (AFP) Sep 17, 2003 The US Senate on Tuesday rejected a measure that would have halted the development of "bunker buster" bombs -- small nuclear weapons created for battefield use -- while also allowing the resumption of underground nuclear tests. By a 53-41 vote, the Republican-controlled Senate rejected legislation sponsored by Democrats Dianne Feinstein of California and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. "At the very time when we are urging other nations to halt their own nuclear weapons programs, the administration is rushing forward to develop our own new nuclear weapons," said Kennedy, who warned that a new "nuclear arms...