The virtual seminar will be held from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. (E.T.)

The U.S. nuclear weapons modernization program is underway at a scale and cost not seen since the Cold War. Responding to a mix of aging weapons systems requirements and growing political and military competition with Russia and China, Services and agencies are modernizing delivery systems, warheads, nuclear command and control systems, strike plans, nuclear strategy guidance, and industrial infrastructure. Former restrictions on new nuclear weapons have fallen away and replaced with a full-throttle new production framework intended to enable fielding of new nuclear capabilities faster. This seminar will outline the major programs and developments and discuss implications and challenges.

About the speaker: Hans M. Kristensen is Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C., where he is responsible for researching and documenting the status and operations of nuclear forces of the nine nuclear-armed states. He is a frequent advisor to the news media on the status of nuclear forces and policy. Kristensen is co-author of the bi-monthly FAS Nuclear Notebook column in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and the World Nuclear Forces overview in the SIPRI Yearbook, both of which are some the most widely used reference material on the status of the world's nuclear arsenals.