US Air Force’s New Constant Phoenix 'Nuke-Sniffing' Jet Makes Its Maiden Flight

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- Personnel from the 55th Aerospace Medicine Squadron and 55th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron report a "thumbs down," which indicates the WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft is above acceptable levels of contamination and needs be parked in an isolated location to be decontaminated. This initial radiation survey was done every time the WC-135 landed after collecting air samples in international airspace over the Pacific as part of Operation Tomodachi. (Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz)  

Warzone/The Drive: Air Force’s First ‘New’ Constant Phoenix Nuke-Sniffing Jet Has Flown 

While far from new, the converted KC-135Rs will make up a fleet of three WC-135R nuke-sniffing jets that replace problem-plagued models. 

The first of what will become the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of three “nuke-sniffing” planes completed its pioneering flight test in Greenville, Texas this week. The KC-135R, with the serial number 64-14836, now converted into the WC-135R Constant Phoenix configuration, is scheduled to be delivered next month and will carry out operations that consist of collecting air samples to screen for the presence of notable nuclear materials. Beyond taking baseline readings around the globe, the Constant Phoenix jets can be deployed to monitor nuclear weapons tests and look for and track nuclear leaks and other nuclear incidents. In doing so, it can provide critical intelligence and help map and mitigate potential fallout.  

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Update: US Air Force’s New 'Nuke-Sniffing' Jet Makes Maiden Flight (Sputnik)  

WNU Editor: This upgrade to a new and modern nuclear detection platform is long overdue.

Russia On High Nuclear Alert As It Opens A New Round-The-Clock Nuclear Explosion Detection Facility

A cinematographer films an atomic mushroom cloud on July 19, 1957 in Yucca Flat, Colorado  

Reuters: Russia begins round-the-clock nuclear explosion detection at new facility -Ifax 

(Reuters) - Russia has begun round-the-clock monitoring to detect nuclear explosions at a newly opened facility, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the defence ministry. 

"From July 1, 2022, in order to strengthen the defence capability of our state, shifts of the Main Centre for Geophysical Monitoring began to carry out round-the-clock duty," Interfax reported citing the ministry. 

The centre, which opened on June 1, is tasked with identifying the sources of man-made "geophysical disturbances" as well as nuclear explosions, Interfax reported. 

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Update #1: Russian Defense Ministry Launches Nuclear Explosions Registration Center (Sputnik)  

Update #2: Russia on high nuke alert as Putin launches 'round-the-clock' monitoring at new facility (Express)  

WNU Editor: Another sign that tensions are escalating.

Nuclear Detection Helicopter Is Flying Missions Around Washington D.C. During The Protests

One of the AMS-equipped Bell 412s undergoing maintenance. A King Air aircraft equipped with its component of the system is seen in the background. Department of Energy

Warzone/The Drive: Nuclear Detection Helicopter Flies Mission Around Washington D.C. Amid Unrest

The Department of Energy's Aerial Measuring System is designed to map radiation levels after an accident, disaster, or dirty bomb attack.

Reports of curious aerial activity over and around Washington, D.C. continue to emerge amid the response in the nation's capital to protests and riots stemming from the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd last week. Earlier today, a Department of Energy helicopter equipped with a specialized system to measure and map radiation levels flew a route around the greater D.C. area. It's unclear if this flight was somehow related to the ongoing protests or if it was just a routine survey.

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WNU Editor: It is good to be cautious. There are a lot of bad actors in the world who would love to take advantage of the current situation.

Russia Is Now Blind To A Possible Nuclear Attack After Losing It's Last Satellite Responsible For Detecting Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Launches

A model of a military satellite being displayed at an exhibition in Moscow. S. Porter / Vedomosti

Russia Blinded By Loss of Missile Detection Satellite -- Moscow Times

Russia has lost contact with one of three military satellites responsible for detecting intercontinental ballistic missile launches, leaving Moscow blind to possible nuclear attacks, Kommersant reported Wednesday, citing a source in the Defense Ministry.

The Oko-1 satellite, otherwise catalogued as Kosmos-2479 — a euphemistic designation often given to Soviet and Russian military space hardware or spacecraft that fails after reaching orbit — was intended to act as the Defense Ministry's eye in the sky for a period of five to seven years after its launch in March 2012.

The satellite began malfunctioning soon after coming online but maintained some level of functionality until April, the source told Kommersant.

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My Comment: This is not reassuring news to know about as tensions rise between Russia and the West.

U.S. Intelligence Is Not Capable Of Detecting Foreign Nuke Threats

Pentagon: U.S. Not Capable of Detecting Foreign Nuke Threats -- Washington Free Beacon

Report warns ‘nation is not yet organized or fully equipped’ to detect nukes

American intelligence and security agencies are not currently capable of detecting when foreign nations are building nuclear weapons or ramping up their existing programs, according to a newly released Pentagon report that faults a range of U.S. agencies.

“The nation is not yet organized or fully equipped” to detect clandestine nuclear activities across the globe, and in most cases “current solutions are either inadequate, or more often, do not exist,” according to the report, which was compiled over three years by the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board.

More nations than ever are pursuing nuclear arms. However, the United States does not have the mechanisms to detect and track these programs, according to the report.

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Update #1: Study says U.S. lacks resources to detect secret nuclear development -- UPI
Update #2: Pentagon Study Finds Agencies Ill Equipped to Detect Foreign Nuclear Efforts -- New York Times

My Comment: The inability of U.S. intelligence in not knowing what foreign governments are doing when it comes to their nuclear programs was pointedly made crystal clear to all of us when no weapons of mass destruction were discovered kin Iraq after the U.S. invasion. So the next question then begs itself .... why we are spending tens of billions of dollars on intelligence when all we get are wrong answers?

The study, a 100-page report by the Defense Science Board, can be read here.

'Dirty Bombs' Or Other Nuclear Devices Can Be Traced Back To Their Source

Dirty Bombs Traceable By DNA Analysis, Say British Ministers -- The Guardian

Improvised nuclear or radiological devices can be traced by new forensic procedures developed by the Ministry of Defence.

"Dirty bombs" – improvised nuclear or radiological devices – could be traced back to their source through new forensic and DNA analysis developed by the Ministry of Defence, ministers have said. A nuclear forensics capability applying conventional forensics techniques to radiologically contaminated evidence will be set up at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston next month, they disclosed.

Nuclear and radiological materials have unique fingerprints – chemical and physical characteristics, officials said. "Potentially, they could tell what part of the world they come from," said one official.

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My Comment: I read a few years ago that the U.S. had this technology .... that if a nuclear device should explode in the U.S. (or elsewhere) .... they would be able to trace where it came from.

Memo to Pakistan, India, etc .... you better watch your nuclear stockpiles.

Nuclear-Detection Effort Is Halted

Nuclear-Detection Effort Is Halted as Ineffective -- New York Times

ASPEN, Colo. — The Obama administration has quietly canceled a much-criticized billion-dollar program to equip ports across the United States with detectors to pick out radioactive material and nuclear weapons being shipped into the country, after acknowledging that the devices did not work.

The decision amounts to a major setback for an effort begun by the Bush administration after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to ease fears that terrorist groups could easily slip nuclear weapons or the parts to build them into one of the millions of cargo containers that enter the country each year.

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My comment: This is not good news ... not good at all.

A Sensor That Tracks Cosmic Particles Could Spot Hidden Nuclear Threats Before They Cross Our Borders

How To Find a Dirty Bomb: As muons pass through the top and bottom detectors, their path builds a view of suspicious objects. Graham Murdoch

From Popular Science:

Smuggling a nuclear weapon into the U.S. is distressingly simple—all someone needs is a truck full of watermelons. Regulations prohibit using high-power x-rays on perishables, and Geiger counters don’t beep alerts because the juicy fruit absorbs radiation. But a new drive-through detector takes advantage of cosmic rays to locate any nuclear material, no matter how cleverly hidden.

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My Comment: Faster please .... much faster.

How To: Measure North Korea’s Nuclear Blast

WC-135W Constant Phoenix. Photo from FAS.

From The Danger Room:

North Korea’s official mouthpieces are crowing about a successful nuclear weapons test. But how do we know what really happened? By checking the seismic data, scouring the satellite images — and sending in the “Constant Phoenix.”

Measurement and signature intelligence — a.k.a. MASINT — is one of the key disciplines for detecting a nuclear event. It starts with seismic data. The U.S. Geological Survey yesterday reported an earthquake in North Korea that measured 4.7 on the Richter scale. That’s more powerful than the tremors that resulted from North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006 – which the U.S. Geological Survey estimated at 4.2 (the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization gave it 4.0; The South Koreans put it between 3.58 and 3.7).

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