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A project on all things strategic and nuclear (as seen from Moscow) by Dmitry Stefanovich. Also on Substack, with (ir)regular newsletters: https://1dkv.substack.com/ stratdela.ru
The MOD has also requested unpriced funding for the development of a new hypersonic underwater launched missile and funding for an ongoing separate program to acquire a long range submarine-launched missile developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry. Research on an underwater vertical launch system, which has been ongoing, continues to be funded.
Additionally, there are funding requests for ongoing long range strike missiles acquisitions such as the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-Off Missile (JASSM) and the Improved Type 12 missile (air, sea and ground launched).
Japan’s Ministry of Defense announced on July 30 that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) had conducted its first live-fire test of a Tomahawk cruise missile aboard the Aegis guided-missile destroyer JS Chokai (DDG-176).
The test was carried out in the Pacific Ocean on July 29, Japan time, while Chokai was deployed to the United States as part of Japan’s Tomahawk acquisition program, with support from the U.S. Navy. The launch made Japan the third country outside the United States, after Australia and the Netherlands, to fire a Tomahawk from a surface combatant, and the fourth outside the United States overall, following the United Kingdom, which has fired the missile only from submarines.
Officials from Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) said the test confirmed that the ship and its crew could successfully carry out the launch sequence, including required crew procedures. They added that the test also verified the missile’s flight to its intended target.
ATLA declined to disclose several operational details, citing coordination with the U.S. Navy and the need to protect Japan’s defense capabilities. Withheld details included the precise test location beyond the Pacific Ocean, the target type, flight range, guidance procedures, the number of missiles fired, and whether a Block IV or Block V Tomahawk was used.
The U.S. Air Force has released plans to experiment with a prototype reusable, rocket-powered aircraft for high-speed, long-range strike missions.
Although limited to a prototype program, the interest from Air Force Global Strike Command points toward a future bomber alternative that differs markedly from the stealthy, subsonic Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, which is now in the early stages of production.
The prototype described in solicitation documents released in mid-July calls for a liquid-fueled, rocket-powered, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft. After launching vertically, or potentially on a steep diagonal trajectory, the aircraft would transition to horizontal flight and accelerate to high—likely supersonic or hypersonic—speed, perform a strike mission and then return to its launch base for a vertical landing.
The concept requires the maturation of several technologies. The Air Force solicitation documents list advanced liquid rocket propulsion, autonomous flight control, thrust-vector control, aerodynamic control surfaces, cryogenic propellant management and high-temperature structural materials to demonstrate stable flight, controlled transition between flight regimes and reliable system performance.
The Air Force plans to make a selection quickly. A contract could be awarded within 30-45 days of the Aug. 4 submission deadline.
The solicitation comes as the defense industry is introducing a growing number of advanced concepts from both established defense contractors and emerging companies.
The concept appears closely aligned with plans by New Frontier Aerospace, based in Kent, Washington. The startup announced a year ago it had signed an agreement with the Air Force Institute of Technology to collaborate on advancing an “innovative, rocket-powered hypersonic [VTOL] aircraft.”
New Frontier Aerospace plans to begin flight testing its liquid-fueled Mjolnir rocket next month. The company intends to use Mjolnir to power an uncrewed Pathfinder aircraft as a proof of concept. Over the longer term, New Frontier Aerospace aims to develop cargo aircraft capable of operating within the atmosphere and in space, including a scaled-up version with intercontinental range.
French and German leadership trying hard to demonstrate unity on key issues of European security and beyond. Following the latest round of consultations, they've reaffirmed commitment to a host of joint projects: the Germans are getting engaged in ‘forward deterrence’ in practical terms; and, as usual, they will be providing assistance to Ukraine (and Lebanon). They believe in NATO as well. They are cautiously criticising Iran and even promise to definitely participate in ensuring the safety of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. As soon as conditions allow©.
The most interesting thing, of course, is the forward deterrence. Which is by no means ‘extended’, but ‘forward’. And very much nuclear.
French Rafale jets from the strategic squadron – though without nuclear weapons – have already arrived at a German airbase and flown alongside German Eurofighters. The Germans, meanwhile, have promised to take part in the next round of French ‘Poker’ series exercises practising the use of nuclear weapons; these take place four times a year.
This is more or less what this forward deterrence will look like in the coming years: French nuclear-capable aircraft will periodically fly to allied airbases, whilst allies will periodically take part in French nuclear-related exercises.
As for non-nuclear strategic capabilities, or Deep Precision Strike (DPS) in the current euromilspeak, what catches the eye is the explicit reference to the involvement of British partners and the particular focus on ballistic effectors with a range of ~2,500 km, developed by the Franco-German company ArianeGroup. We know what this is all about; the B-STRIKE 2500 system has been actively promoted for some time now. We’ll see when things move beyond cartoons©.
The question remains as to whether, sooner or later, the French will want to restore a land-based component to their nuclear forces, thereby re-establishing the nuclear triad. For now, this seems unlikely, but it is possible in the medium term. And mobile launchers can also be conveniently deployed to allied countries.
For Russia, the task is to watch and get on with our own tasks. It cannot be ruled out that, at a certain stage, there will be a need to once again reassess the structure of nuclear arsenal, the modes of combat duty for nuclear forces, and the doctrinal foundations of nuclear deterrence. The same applies to air and space defence.
Northrop Grumman is rewriting the rules of space operations with the Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV), a groundbreaking spacecraft that functions like a metaphorical Swiss Army Knife ® for satellites. It is capable of performing numerous operations for satellites in orbit, including inspection, life extension, repairs, upgrades, debris removal and drepositioning.
Northrop Grumman is an aerospace and defense technology systems company, and it’s growing. The company is expanding its campus next to Hill Air Force Base. On Tuesday, it broke ground on a new facility in Utah to accelerate the development of the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (nuclear missile).
Victus Haze goes a step further and is “interesting because [the two firms will] be taking turns for various roles throughout the mission [to] practice tactics and operational concepts for dealing with on-orbit threats,” Even Rogers, founder and CEO of True Anomaly, told Breaking Defense. “And so, we change, we switch roles, but we don’t have a designated role, it just depends on the mission we’re doing.”
While the Space Force has given the two players a set of objectives to fulfill and set mission boundaries, he explained, the on-orbit game play is not scripted and neither company knows exactly how the other’s spacecraft will act.
Brian Rogers (no relation), Rocket Lab’s vice president of global launch services, said that the design of Victus Haze thus is very different than most RPO demonstrations up to now, which instead have involved highly scripted maneuvers using “cooperative” satellites as the target.
Still, citing Space Force sensitivities, both executives were coy about the precise activities, beyond imaging each other’s spacecraft, involved in the future Victus Haze mission sets. But public releases have described some early successes in the friendly cat-and-mouse game.
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While the exercise isn’t hostile, the TacRS program and its Victus demonstrations are being managed by the Space Force’s new Combat Power Program Acquisition Executive office, headed by Col. Bryon McClain, responsible for space warfare. According to the service’s fiscal 2027 budget documents, TacRS falls under “the Combat Power mission area[,] which provides the systems required to protect and defend space-based capabilities and ensure space superiority by enabling and executing combat operations in space.”
The Space Development Agency announced contracts worth $1.75 billion to build 36 satellites in support of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome missile defense shield.
The satellites will be part of Tranche 3 of SDA’s missile defense, warning, and tracking layer, a constellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit. L3Harris and Sierra Space both received contracts to build 18 satellites each and deliver them in time for a potential launch in late 2028.
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The Space Force awarded initial contracts for Tranche 3 last December to Lockheed Martin, Rocket Lab, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris for a total of 72 satellites. This additional batch of 32—which SDA calls Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3, or AMDT3—brings the total tranche to 104 spacecraft.
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SDA said in its statement that L3Harris’ satellite design will be based off the Hypersonic Ballistic Tracking and Space Sensor. L3Harris and Northrop Grumman each built one HBTSS prototype for the Missile Defense Agency, both of which launched as part of the first batch of SDA missile defense satellites.
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Sierra Space’s satellites will be missile warning/missile tracking spacecraft. The company said in a statement that the satellites will be based on its “Horizon” spacecraft. The company is already on contract to build 18 satellites for Tranche 2 of SDA’s tracking layer.
Ariane Group decided to share a glossary on missile technology.
https://x.com/i/status/2076724145937588683
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Statement under Agenda Item 6. Statements by observer organizations in accordance with General Assembly decision 79/512 Third Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Prevention of an Arms Race in All its Aspects Delivered by Prof. Thomas González Roberts Geneva, July 10, 2026
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The planned procurement would span JASSM Lots 27–33 and LRASM Lots 13–19, covering up to 11,200 missiles in multiple variants over the next five to seven years. The expansion would also increase sustainment capacity, missile repair infrastructure, software support, and production at Lockheed Martin’s two existing manufacturing facilities, with deliveries expected to begin 27 months after contract award.
The contract covers all current and future variants of the LRASM and JASSM, including the new LRASM-ER and JASSM-XR — two new variants of the shared missile family that add some of Lockheed Martin’s newest anti-spoofing and survivability equipment.
This looks like a healthy human's Typhon by the way.
https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/media-releases/2026-07-09/australia-achieves-landmark-prototype-missile-defence-live-fire
https://thebulletin.org/premium/2026-07/chinese-nuclear-weapons-2026/
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NNSA announced today that it had completed “diamond stamping” of all canned subassemblies (CSA) for the B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb planned for the current Fiscal Year three months ahead of schedule at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
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The B61-13 will be certified for delivery by U.S. strategic bomber aircraft. Development of the bomb is part of a broader strategy between NNSA and the Department of War to develop new technical solutions for the defeat of hard and deeply buried targets.
Evidence has emerged indicating that China’s YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile is now also being fielded aboard the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) Type 052D class destroyers. These warships are far more numerous than the Type 055 ‘super destroyers,’ from which the missile was previously seen being fired, as we reported at the time. The new development suggests that the PLAN intends to distribute the weapon across a much broader portion of its surface fleet rather than reserving it exclusively for its largest combatants.
Hundreds of miles above Earth, JACKAL-0004 begins the hunt. Its mission: close in on, image, and characterize the target spacecraft, Puma. As Jackal closes in, Puma fires its thrusters to slip out of view and vanish into the dark.
Jackal relays the data to our team on the ground, who rapidly replan and uplink a new trajectory. Jackal responds quickly, keeps chase, and closes back in. Puma maneuvers, but Jackal stays on its target and completes the mission. This is how an adversary would respond in a real-world defense mission, and it is happening now as part of VICTUS HAZE, an end-to-end demonstration of tactically responsive space.
The Air Force is weighing whether to pull scrapped B-52 Stratofortresses out of the boneyard, according to an Air Force official, prompted in part by the demands of operations in the Middle East.
“We can and have looked at bringing B-52s out of Arizona,” Col. Timothy Spaulding, the Air Force’s portfolio acquisition executive for bombers, said Monday in a media roundtable here at the Life Cycle Industry Days conference. Arizona is home to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base where divested aircraft, including the B-52, are sent for retirement.
“That’s not a necessarily easy thing to do, and there’s some limitation to how far you might go on that number,” Spaulding continued, adding that it was more of a “maybe” consideration for planners.
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“I wouldn’t say in like a massive way,” Spaulding said. “It’s always been a question, and we continue to look at the cost-benefit of what it takes to regenerate” additional bombers.
The U.S. Navy expects the stealthy destroyer USS Zumwalt, with its new launchers for Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) hypersonic missiles, to be formally returned to service by September. Upgrade work on the ship, which started back in 2023, is some 10 months behind schedule. One contributing factor in the delay was the first full shutdown of the notoriously complex Integrated Power System (IPS) since the ship was delivered to the Navy six years ago.
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USS Zumwalt‘s formal return to the fleet as the Navy’s first vessel equipped to fire hypersonic missiles will be an important milestone. However, signs still very much point to IRCPS being a relatively limited and costly capability, likely to be held in reserve for very high-priority targets, at least in the near term.
Strategic cooperation
Building on the joint declaration of President Macron and Chancellor Merz of 2nd March 2026 and pursuant to the establishment of the German-French “Nuclear Steering Group” under the joint chairmanship of the French President and the German Chancellor, with the participation of Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Ministries of Defence, Germany and France will further develop their strategic cooperation and their common strategic culture. Our confidential consultations will focus on the articulation of conventional, Deep Precision Strike and missile defence capabilities with nuclear deterrence, in order to increase our ability to manage escalation beneath the nuclear threshold and to develop the necessary conventional capabilities.
This unprecedented bilateral cooperation will contribute to strengthening deterrence in Europe and enhancing Europe’s security as a whole in full compliance with our international legal obligations. It will add to, not substitute for, NATO’s nuclear deterrence and NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangements, to which Germany contributes.
Today, the deployment of Rafale aircraft from the French Strategic Air Forces to the German 31 Tactical Air Wing “Boelcke” at Nörvenich marks the first operational step in Franco-German strategic cooperation It will be followed by further steps this year, including German conventional participation in a French nuclear exercise.
❗️Chief engineer of Zaporozhye nuclear power plant Alexander Yakovlev has been killed by a drone strike this morning, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said.
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Through the Nuclear Looking Glass
Michael Albertson
Current History (2026) 125 (872-873): 43–45.
https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2026.125.872-873.43
The transition from the highly structured, cooperative era of post–Cold War arms control to the fragmented and unpredictable nuclear landscape of 2026 is examined through a blend of personal memoir and strategic analysis. By contrasting the intimate, respectful colleague relationship of early inspections with the increasingly free-for-all approach to nuclear controls, the analysis illustrates the erosion of the traditional rules-based order. Outdated arms control models fail to account for the rise of China and the dissolution of US-Russia cooperation has created a “through the looking glass” reality where negotiation seems unlikely. To address this, “achievable reality” solutions should be pursued, utilizing non-military inducements and the influence of non-nuclear states to force a new diplomatic opening. The survival of global security depends on the ability to abandon obsolete twentieth-century habits in favor of practical, multi-vector solutions grounded in the geopolitical realities of the present.
Weitreichende Raketen: Deutschland und Frankreich kooperieren | FAZ
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/unternehmen/weitreichende-raketen-deutschland-und-frankreich-kooperieren-accg-201024079.html
France and Poland held their first nuclear steering group meeting in Paris on Friday, 10th July.
Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition
Published 13 July 2026
A statement from the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
We, the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom recognizing the growing threat posed by ballistic missiles and the increasing importance of defence capabilities for the security of the European continent, announce today the initiation of the establishment of a purely defensive Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition. We express our support for its Flagship Project to work at pace to develop an Anti-Ballistic capability.
We believe that the protection of Europe requires a global solution of integrated missile defence architecture to deter and defeat future missile threats - developed through collective effort, technological openness, and trusted industrial cooperation. It will complement existing ballistic missile defence systems, including sovereign European solutions already acquired, or to be acquired by participating countries. By bringing together our defence industrial base, our research, and our operational experience, we aim to build a shared antiballistic missile capacity for Europe and support relevant contributory activities. We do this not against any people, but in defence of our own.
We acknowledge the unique experience of Ukraine, gained in defence against Russia’s war of aggression.
Through this Declaration, we aim to establish common operational requirements, joint technical working groups, clear governance mechanisms, and a roadmap towards the Coalition's first operational capabilities – in line with our respective constitutional arrangements and international obligations.
We will seek to support joint research and development activities under the Flagship Project, including by exploring appropriate opportunities for funding and promote enhanced data and information exchange.
The founding members of the Coalition are Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
The Coalition remains open to other nations that share its principles and objectives.
Three-Dimensional Deterrence:
Escalation Management and War
Termination in a Two-Peer Nuclear
Environment
https://cgsr.llnl.gov/sites/cgsr/files/2026-06/Keay_3D_Deterrence_Final.pdf
Latest STRATDELA issue: https://open.substack.com/pub/1dkv/p/stratdela-44
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The Air Force has officially decided the B-21 Raider will fly with a two-pilot air crew—and some of those pilots will be former weapon system and combat systems officers.
The Air Force is establishing a transition program for WSOs and CSOs to become pilots and take follow-on assignments flying the new bomber.
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WSOs will be drawn from the B-1, B-52, and F-15E communities, where they operate the planes’ weapon systems and assist pilots with situational awareness and defensive operations. The Air Force plans to retire its B-1s by the late 2030s, and has sought to retire more than half the F-15E fleet, although Congress has blocked that so far. The F-15EX will ultimately supplant the F-15E, and it also has a two-seat cockpit. But as designed, that plane can be operated by a pilot alone, and that remains the Air Force’s plan so far.
Merz has once again stated that the US now definitely agreed to sell Tomahawk cruise missiles. According to rumours, a contract could be signed in August for both the missiles themselves and Typhon systems to launch them. Some thoughts on the matter.
1) To begin with, what matters is how many and which types of Tomahawks Germany will receive, and, most importantly, when. This story has been played out several times already; let’s see what happens next.
2) Proper long-range cruise missiles remain highly relevant. Yes, compared to overhyped "effectors", they are more expensive and more complicated to manufacture, and it is more difficult to carry out regular, large-scale strikes with them. However, their effectiveness is far greater, both in terms of overcoming air defence systems and in terms of accuracy, and their warheads are far more sophisticated. Moreover, the storage of modern cruise missiles is a far more straightforward and reliable process.
3) The main question is what will become of European systems. Despite all the talk of autonomy and the projects that have been launched (ELSA and so on), it would appear that Germany, for its part, is prepared to hand over its cash to anyone, even the US (there is also talk of Türkiye), just so long as it does not have to support the French defence industry.
4) Overall, a pan-European discussion is needed – one that includes Russian experts – regarding the role and place of long-range strike weapons in both deterrence and warfighting. It would appear that even amongst European countries there is no common understanding, and the actions being taken are largely reactive in nature. And these weapons are extremely dangerous in terms of escalation risks, given their high readiness even in peacetime and their ability to strike strategic targets.
PS Typhon is quite something in its own right; perhaps Pentagon simply wants to offload these ‘refrigerators’ somewhere once they’ve got something more decent for themselves.
NATO’s deterrence and defence rest on an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional, and missile defence capabilities, complemented by space and cyber assets. We are committed to maintaining our combat advantage. We are investing in our ability to deploy, enable and sustain our armed forces and deliver our capability targets in all domains, including in deep precision strike, integrated air and missile defence, uncrewed systems, cutting edge technologies, and intelligence capabilities. We are developing an interoperable transatlantic warfighting cloud and adopting powerful AI models.