Arms Control Wonk

Apr 12 2025 100 ep. 33 mins 9.6k
Arms Control Wonk Podcast artwork

The nuclear weapons, arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation podcast. Companion to the popular Arms Control Wonk blog (www.armscontrolwonk.com). Hosted by Jeffrey Lewis & Aaron Stein.

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Brilliant Swarms

Apr 12 2025 36 mins  
Aaron and Jeffrey sat down for their first video podcast to discuss the cost of Brilliant Swarm, the name du moment of Brilliant Pebbles, aka space based missile defense. Watch the video pod over on YouTube! Support us over at Patreon.com/acwpodcast!

Orbital Collisions

Apr 06 2025 29 mins  
Aaron and Jeffrey sat down to discuss the latest news about anti-satellite warfare and why bumping and grinding in the cosmos is back en vogue. Support us over at Patreon.com/acwpodcast!

Tusk Muses About France’s Force De Frappe

Mar 20 2025 42 mins  
Donald Tusk — not the indulgent follow up to the perfect Fleetwood Mac Album Rumours — mused recently about the future of deterrence in Europe. The discussion reminds of the challenges of extended deterrence, the oh so very French debate about nuclear weapons and European security, and the vibe shift that has raised questions about the future US security guarantee. Links of Not

The Oreshnik IRBM

Nov 22 2024 30 mins  
Russia launched an experimental, offensive missile into Ukraine, aimed at the PA Pivdenmash (former Yuzhmash) factory. This is a new world of missile combat, as this looks to be the first use of an IRBM (though not at IRBM ranges) and possibly MIRV (though conventional!) in combat. Jeffrey and Aaron talk about Russia's new Oreshnik missile, what it is, its relationship to the RS-2

Fred Kaplan and A Capital Calamity

Oct 20 2024 32 mins  
The legendary Fred Kaplan joins Jeffrey to talk about his brand new novel, A Capital Calamity. Fred and Jeffrey talk through the Fred's experiences in nuclear strategy and the influences on his new novel, A Capital Calamity, from JFK's EXCOMM tapes, the MX basing debate, and the Jane Austen meets Dr. Strangelove comedy of DC manners and etiquette. Catch one of Fred's upcoming boo

The Big Honking Hyunmoo-V

Oct 20 2024 30 mins  
An absolutely massive mobile ballistic missile was paraded in North.... ...wait sorry.... South Korea. Force of habit. Decker joins Jeffrey to talk about the absolute unit that the ROK just showed off. But don't worry, it's just an "SRBM with an eight ton warhead," nothing to see here. The team talks about messaging, move/countermoves on the Korean Peninsula, and who actually st

A Chinese ICBM Test in the Pacific

Oct 20 2024 26 mins  
China tested an ICBM deep into the Pacific Ocean, instead of short-shooting it into PRC deserts. Decker Eveleth joins Jeffrey to talk about why this is a fascinating change in behavior for the PLA Rocket Force and PRC in general. China has only ever done this twice before, both over 40 years ago, back in 1980. Decker and Jeffrey talk about the internally signalling mechanisms, the

Iran's October Missile Raid

Oct 02 2024 33 mins  
Iran just launched what may be the largest single missile raid in history, and Israel claims no Israeli deaths. While we're still very early in the news cycle, Jeffrey and Aaron start picking apart the information available to look at what we can learn about the state of the Iranian offensive missile arsenal, weight what Iran's options for next steps are, and dive into the internal

Busting the Burevestnik

Sep 18 2024 26 mins  
Friend of the Pod Decker Eveleth found the Burevestnik deployment site, it seems! Decker, of the CNA Corporation, has tracked down what appears to be the deployment site of the 9M730 Burevestnik, aka the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, using Planet Labs satellite imagery. It appears to be about 300 miles north of Mosco, near a national-level nuclear storage facility. Decker and Jeffrey talk thr

TYPHON, FATHER OF MONSTERS

Jun 24 2024 32 mins  
Jeffrey and his team have been OSINT'ing the heck out of the deployment of the Typhon Strategic Mid-Range Fires (SMRF) ((Typhon Smurf?)) to the Philippines, and tracked down the airport and deployment zone. Recently the U.S. Army deployed the new Typhon SMRF system to the Philippines as part of an exercise, raising the ire of both the Russian and Chinese governments. The Army seeme