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Nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)

Russian President Vladimir Putin in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday. Photo: Sputnik via Reuters

Ukraine war

Putin threatens to hit ‘decision-making centres’ in Kyiv with new missile

Russia’s Oreshnik ballistic missile was first deployed last week against the Ukrainian industrial city of Dnipro.

6 hours ago

War and conflict

Opinion | Under Trump 2.0, what happens to nuclear arms control?

27 Nov 2024 - 8:30PMvideocam

US-China relations

As China tests nuclear capabilities, US think tank urges deterrence planning

22 Nov 2024 - 2:23PMvideocam

Ukraine war

Russia’s Putin hints at strikes on West in ‘global’ Ukraine war

Nato and Ukraine are to hold emergency talks after Russia used an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the conflict.

22 Nov 2024 - 10:27PM

Glowing projectiles could be seen plummeting to the ground from the night sky in Dnipro overnight. Photo: Come Back Alive via AFP

Ukraine war

Ukraine says Russia launched ICBM in attack for first time in war

It marked the latest escalation of the conflict after Ukraine fired Western-supplied long-range missiles on Russia.

21 Nov 2024 - 10:03PMvideocam

Ukraine war

Ukraine fires UK Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for first time: reports

Ukraine launches UK cruise missiles into Russia, a day after firing long-range US ATACMS.

21 Nov 2024 - 2:23PM

Middle East

Iran to stop producing near bomb-grade uranium, UN watchdog says

The move is a sign the Islamic Republic may be ready to resolve a stand-off with the West over its atomic activities.

20 Nov 2024 - 3:26AM

The Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building that houses the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, in May 2021. Photo: Reuters

Russia

Ukraine strikes Russia with Western missiles as Putin updates nuclear doctrine

Ukrainian forces conducted their first strike in Russia using Western-supplied ATACMS missiles.

19 Nov 2024 - 8:03PM

Ukraine war

Moscow warns US over allowing Ukraine to hit Russia with longer-range missiles

Major US policy shift – long demanded by Ukraine – comes as North Korea deploys troops to help Moscow’s war effort.

19 Nov 2024 - 3:27PM

War and conflict

Letters | Nuclear deterrence is mute on how to resolve root of conflict

Readers discuss Russia’s threat of nuclear strikes and North Korea’s role in the Ukraine war, Cheung Chau’s fading charms, and Hong Kong’s outstanding healthcare service.

9 Nov 2024 - 11:30AM

An activist holds a single-person picket in front of the US embassy in central Moscow on November 5, with a poster reading “We Support Changing the Nuclear Doctrine to Allowing to Retarget Nuclear Weapons at the United States”. Photo: AFP

United States

Opinion | Trump 2.0 signals more drawing of lines between West and the rest

In an all-of-economy bid to upgrade the US defence ecosystem, all global goods and services could be subject to security scrutiny.

8 Nov 2024 - 5:20PMvideocam

Surrounded by army cadets, Donald Trump, then US president, watches the first half of the 121st Army-Navy Game on December 12, 2020, in West Point, New York. Trump won the US presidential election this week. Photo: AP

North Korea

Trump’s victory is ‘good news’ for North Korea. But will Kim denuclearise?

Trump and Kim met twice in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi in 2019 but the summits failed to yield a commitment by Pyongyang to denuclearise.

8 Nov 2024 - 3:37PM

North Korea

How rise of Kim Jong-un’s daughter raises questions on North Korea’s leadership

Kim Jong-un’s daughter is emerging in the public eye, but her future leadership role in North Korea remains a mystery.

5 Nov 2024 - 9:18AMvideocam

US-China relations

US accuses Russia and China of ‘shamelessly’ shielding North Korea

UN ambassadors trade barbs over North Korea’s test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile last week.

5 Nov 2024 - 10:38AMvideocam

North Korea

US nuclear bomber joins drills with S. Korea, Japan after Pyongyang missile test

South Korea’s military said the drills showed the resolve of the ROK and the US to strengthen their deterrence against North Korea.

3 Nov 2024 - 3:02PM

The US deployed a B-1B nuclear bomber in joint drills with South Korean and Japanese fighters following the North’s missile test last week. File photo: AFP

US presidential election 2024

Opinion | North Korea’s missile test days before US election sends powerful message

No isolated act of aggression, the missile test was a calculated show of a strengthened alliance and a preview of mounting challenges.

3 Nov 2024 - 9:30AMvideocam

North Korea

North Korea says record test was new Hwasong-19 ICBM

North Korea lauded the Hwasong-19 that was test-fired Thursday as ‘the world’s strongest strategic missile’.

1 Nov 2024 - 4:25PMvideocam

North Korea

Amid Ukraine war tensions, Pyongyang’s ICBM test may be sign of things to come

Missile test is Pyongyang’s way of showing its deepening ‘nuclear alliance’ with Russia and a message to the US ahead of the election, analysts say.

1 Nov 2024 - 9:37AMvideocam

North Korea

North Korea’s Kim says longest ICBM test is a warning to enemies

Missile on Thursday recorded a flight time of 87 minutes, longer than the last ICBM test launch in December 2023.

31 Oct 2024 - 1:51PMvideocam

Ukraine war

North Korean troops in Russian uniforms are heading toward Ukraine, US says

Some advance units have already arrived in the Kursk region, and ‘the likelihood is pretty high’ that Moscow will use them in combat.

31 Oct 2024 - 7:04AMvideocam

Australia

Australia to boost missile stockpiles, citing China’s ICBM test

The Indo-Pacific region is on the cusp of a new missile age, Australia’s defence industry minister said, vowing more domestic production.

30 Oct 2024 - 3:04PMvideocam

Missiles are fired from US military Himars launchers at a firing range in northern Australia during joint drills last year. Photo: AFP

Ukraine war

Russia fires missiles to simulate ‘massive’ response to a nuclear attack

Moscow has repeatedly signalled that it will respond if the West allows Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with longer-range weapons.

30 Oct 2024 - 3:35AM

A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during Russian military drills on Tuesday. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry via AFP

War and conflict

Opinion | Ukraine and Gaza wars offer a lesson on the merits of nuclear weapons

Nuclear arms on both sides of tensions can prevent escalations into outright war, as has been the case in South Asia.

24 Oct 2024 - 5:50PMvideocam

US presidential election 2024

US election winner might find North Korea ‘most dangerous flashpoint’ with China

Kim Jong-un’s ratcheting up of nuclear tensions may leave China in a no-win situation as he seeks to pile pressure on the next president.

22 Oct 2024 - 11:35PMvideocam

Science

Chinese researchers put data link hardware to the doomsday test: paper

Engineers push communications equipment to the limit to see if it could survive a nuclear attack.

20 Oct 2024 - 10:00PMvideocam

Communications equipment needs to be able to withstand a nuclear attack. Photo: Shutterstock

Ukraine war

Putin calls Zelensky comments on Ukraine nuclear arms ‘dangerous provocation’

The Ukrainian leader has clarified that what he wants is Nato membership, which is ‘better than any kind of weapon’.

19 Oct 2024 - 2:51AM

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meets the heads of leading media outlets from Brics member countries in the Moscow region on Friday. Photo: AFP

Nobel Prize

Opinion | Bomb survivors’ Nobel Prize a reminder to world on edge of nuclear war

As the world lurches towards nuclear conflict, we cannot afford to forget the catastrophe unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

18 Oct 2024 - 8:30PMvideocam

War and conflict

Opinion | US-China-Russia strategic stability hangs in the balance

Quiet revolutions in military affairs are taking place just as arms control is declining – and precisely when cooperation should increase.

17 Oct 2024 - 10:42PMvideocam

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Nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)

Nuclear weapons continue to be a topic of tension in the modern world, particularly with concerns from the US and its partners over Iran's nuclear development programme, which Iran says is for medical and industrial use only. Such armaments can be delivered by intercontinental ballistic missiles, which have with a range of over 5,500km (3,400 miles).

last updated:

9 September, 2024