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elianajjohns.bsky.social
Eliana Johns
@elianajjohns.bsky.social
920 followers 160 following 25 posts
Senior Research Associate with Nuclear Information Project @ Federation of American Scientists & Grad Student @ Georgetown SFS | Talks about nukes and satellite imagery | (views are my own)
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elianajjohns.bsky.social
Eliana Johns @elianajjohns.bsky.social · Feb 26
I am extremely pleased to share this [email protected] report published today by me and @nukestrat.bsky.social on the return of the USAF nuclear mission to RAF Lakenheath. ⬇️

fas.org/publication/...
The Potential Return of the US Nuclear Mission to RAF Lakenheath
Even without weapons present, the addition of a large nuclear air base in northern Europe is a significant new development that would have been inconceivable just a decade-and-a-half ago.
fas.org
Reposted by Eliana Johns
nuclearinfoservice.bsky.social
Register now to join the conversation today 17:00 GMT www.nuclearinfo.org
November 11, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
scientistsorg.bsky.social
Nuclear Information Project Senior Research Associates + Nuclear Notebook co-authors @mknight.bsky.social and @elianajjohns.bsky.social break down the President's interesting post about a return to nuclear testing line by line.

📍 www.instagram.com/reel/DQegwky...
October 31, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
poni.csis.org
Applications for PONI's Nuclear Scholars Initiative close in three weeks! PONI accepts applications from a diverse range of backgrounds, and has limited spots open for non-U.S. citizens as well. Don't miss out!

Apply here: nuclearnetwork.csis.org/programs/nuc...
Nuclear Scholars Initiative - Nuclear Network
The Nuclear Scholars Initiative aims to provide top graduate students and young professionals from around the country with a unique venue to interact and dialogue with senior experts on nuclear weapon...
nuclearnetwork.csis.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
councilonstrategicrisks.org
When states increase interest in tactical nuclear weapons, risks can multiply quickly.

Join authors @andrewfacini.com + Lily Boland and moderator @elianajjohns.bsky.social for a timely conversation on a major new report on the consequences of TNW use.

📅 Thu, Oct 23 | 11:00 ET
⬇️ RSVP & learn more:
Launch Event: The Consequences of Tactical Nuclear Weapons Use - The Council on Strategic Risks
Join authors Andrew Facini and Lily Boland, and moderator Eliana Johns from the Federation of American Scientists, for an open conversation on the latest CSR report, The Consequences of Tactical Nucle...
councilonstrategicrisks.org
October 21, 2025 at 3:44 PM
elianajjohns.bsky.social
I published an update on developments we've been tracking at RAF Lakenheath. While progress (such as the construction of a new security perimeter) is evident, outstanding infrastructure upgrades raise questions about whether U.S. nuclear weapons have already been deployed.
fas.org/publication/...
Incomplete Upgrades at RAF Lakenheath Raise Questions About Suspected US Nuclear Deployment - Federation of American Scientists
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades ...
fas.org
October 15, 2025 at 6:36 PM
elianajjohns.bsky.social
Check out @mknight.bsky.social's epic and rather timely report on presidential sole authority in the United States! It has everything you need to know about the history and ongoing debates about this policy -- a must-read!
mknight.bsky.social Mackenzie Knight-Boyle @mknight.bsky.social · Sep 5
The president has sole authority to order nuclear use- How did we get here? How does it work? What’s the issue? Can we solve it?

My new @scientistsorg.bsky.social report on nuclear launch authority in the U.S. - “All the King’s Weapons” - is out! Read it below 👇

fas.org/publication/...
September 5, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
nukestrat.bsky.social
1/n - China’s military parade as expected was an extreme display off military equipment. This included display of several new nuclear weapons systems, including some modified or entirely new. www.youtube.com/live/-aH6rGs...

This thread includes preliminary descriptions; more later: 👇
September 3, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
francoisdm.bsky.social
🚨 JUST IN: Latest issue of the Nuclear Notebook is out!

🇵🇰 Pakistan nuclear weapons, 2025.

By @nukestrat.bsky.social, @mattkorda.bsky.social, @elianajjohns.bsky.social, and @mknight.bsky.social of @scientistsorg.bsky.social.

thebulletin.org/premium/2025...

#nuclearweapons #Pakistan #nukesky
Pakistan nuclear weapons, 2025
Pakistan currently has a stockpile of approximately 170 nuclear warheads—a number that could potentially grow to around 200 by the late 2020s.
thebulletin.org
September 4, 2025 at 12:58 PM
elianajjohns.bsky.social
🚨 🇵🇰 Check out our latest Nuclear Notebook on Pakistan's nuclear weapons, published in @thebulletin.org!

@nukestrat.bsky.social
@mattkorda.bsky.social
@mknight.bsky.social
@scientistsorg.bsky.social

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Pakistan nuclear weapons, 2025
This issue’s column reviews the status of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and finds that the country currently has a stockpile of approximately 170 warheads, a number that could potentially grow to arou...
www.tandfonline.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:02 PM
elianajjohns.bsky.social
We nuke nerds at @scientistsorg.bsky.social published a piece this morning on the nuclear weapons displayed during China's 2025 Victory Day Parade.

Read here for everything you need to know! 👇

fas.org/publication/...
Nuclear Weapons At China's 2025 Victory Day Parade - Federation of American Scientists
This buildup appears to contradict China's obligations under the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and could well stimulate nuclear buildups in the United States and India.
fas.org
September 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
astrokatie.com
Americans Astronomers
watching watching
US politics Betelgeuse
🤝

“It could happen at any time”
September 1, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
nukestrat.bsky.social
Impressive piece of work by my colleagues @mattkorda.bsky.social and @mknight.bsky.social on the extraordinary mess in the new Sentinel ICBM program: The Two-Hundred Billion Dollar Boondoggle. 👇
mattkorda.bsky.social Matt Korda @mattkorda.bsky.social · Jun 24
An administration that claims to be obsessed with eliminating waste should look no further than the Sentinel ICBM program.

@mknight.bsky.social and I have done a deep dive into the system; we explore why the program is so behind schedule, over-budget, and poorly managed. 👇

fas.org/publication/...
The Two-Hundred Billion Dollar Boondoggle - Federation of American Scientists
Nearly one year after the Pentagon certified the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program to continue after it incurred critical cost and schedule overruns, the new nuclear missile could on...
fas.org
July 2, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
thebulletin.org
The latest Nuclear Notebook entry, “French nuclear weapons, 2025,” by @nukestrat.bsky.social, @mattkorda.bsky.social, @elianajjohns.bsky.social, and @mknight.bsky.social.

This Bulletin magazine article is available to all readers. (12/12)
French nuclear weapons, 2025
France’s nuclear weapons arsenal has remained stable in recent years, but significant modernizations are underway of the country’s ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, submarines, aircraft, and nuclear industrial complex. We estimate that France currently has a nuclear weapons stockpile of approximately 290 warheads, as well as approximately 80 retired warheads awaiting dismantlement.
thebulletin.org
July 16, 2025 at 5:31 PM
elianajjohns.bsky.social
Summer camp counselor? ❌
FAS OSINT Bootcamp counselor ✅🗺️

I’m at a loss for words to express how thankful and inspired I am by the success of our inaugural FAS Open Source Nuclear Analysis Bootcamp. I'm already looking forward to next year!
July 15, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
francoisdm.bsky.social
🚨 JUST IN: 🇫🇷 French nuclear weapons, 2025.

By @nukestrat.bsky.social @mattkorda.bsky.social
@elianajjohns.bsky.social @mknight.bsky.social of @scientistsorg.bsky.social

In @thebulletin.org

thebulletin.org/premium/2025...

#France #ballisticmissiles #bombers #submarines #nuclearweapons #nukesky
French nuclear weapons, 2025
France’s nuclear weapons arsenal has remained stable in recent years at approximately 290 warheads, but the country is modernizing its ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, submarines, aircraft, and nu...
thebulletin.org
July 15, 2025 at 10:45 AM
elianajjohns.bsky.social
📌 ICYMI, @nukestrat.bsky.social, @mattkorda.bsky.social, @mknight.bsky.social, and I just released a pretty cool report on the targeting strategies of nuclear-armed states.

Check it out!
scientistsorg.bsky.social Federation of American Scientists @scientistsorg.bsky.social · Jun 30
🆕 Planning for the Unthinkable: the targeting strategies of nuclear-armed states

Intense secrecy around nuclear targeting means that most individuals—including lawmakers—do not have much understanding of how fateful decisions about what to target during wartime are made.
Planning for the Unthinkable: The targeting strategies of nuclear-armed states The quantitative and qualitative enhancements to global nuclear arsenals in the past decade—particularly China’s nuclear buildup, Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling, and NATO’s response—have recently reinvigorated debates about how nuclear-armed states intend to use their nuclear weapons, and against which targets, in what some describe as a new Cold War. Details about who, what, where, when, why, and how countries target with their nuclear weapons are some of states’ most closely held secrets. Targeting information rarely reaches the public, and discussions almost exclusively take place behind closed doors—either in the depths of military headquarters and command posts, or in the halls of defense contractors and think tanks. The general public is, to a significant extent, excluded from those discussions. This is largely because nuclear weapons create unique expectations and requirements about secrecy and privileged access that, at times, can seem borderline undemocratic. Revealing targeting information could open up a country’s nuclear policies and intentions to intense scrutiny by its adversaries, its allies, and—crucially—its citizens. This presents a significant democratic challenge for nuclear-armed countries and the international community. Despite the profound implications for national and international security, the intense secrecy means that most individuals—not only including the citizens of nuclear-armed countries and others that would bear the consequences of nuclear use, but also lawmakers in nuclear-armed and nuclear umbrella states that vote on nuclear weapons programs and policies—do not have much understanding of how countries make fateful decisions about what to target during wartime, and how. When lawmakers in nuclear-armed countries approve military spending bills that enhance or increase nuclear and conventional forces, they often do so with little knowledge of how those bills could have implications for nuclear targeting plans.
July 3, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
mknight.bsky.social
My latest in @postopinions.bsky.social - the 5th installment of our @scientistsorg.bsky.social series "The Next Nuclear Age"

How a president might come to launch a nuclear strike

Massive thanks to @sebphilippe.bsky.social for helping us model what a nuclear attack on DC might look like
⬇️⬇️
Opinion | How a nuclear attack on the U.S. might unfold, step by step
A scenario of America’s response to an incoming nuclear attack.
wapo.st
July 2, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
scientistsorg.bsky.social
NEW REPORT from @nukestrat.bsky.social, @mattkorda.bsky.social, @elianajjohns.bsky.social, and @mknight.bsky.social, with generous support from @norskfolkehjelp.bsky.social

🔗 fas.org/publication/targeting-strategies-nuclear-armed-states/
June 30, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
scientistsorg.bsky.social
🆕 Planning for the Unthinkable: the targeting strategies of nuclear-armed states

Intense secrecy around nuclear targeting means that most individuals—including lawmakers—do not have much understanding of how fateful decisions about what to target during wartime are made.
Planning for the Unthinkable: The targeting strategies of nuclear-armed states The quantitative and qualitative enhancements to global nuclear arsenals in the past decade—particularly China’s nuclear buildup, Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling, and NATO’s response—have recently reinvigorated debates about how nuclear-armed states intend to use their nuclear weapons, and against which targets, in what some describe as a new Cold War. Details about who, what, where, when, why, and how countries target with their nuclear weapons are some of states’ most closely held secrets. Targeting information rarely reaches the public, and discussions almost exclusively take place behind closed doors—either in the depths of military headquarters and command posts, or in the halls of defense contractors and think tanks. The general public is, to a significant extent, excluded from those discussions. This is largely because nuclear weapons create unique expectations and requirements about secrecy and privileged access that, at times, can seem borderline undemocratic. Revealing targeting information could open up a country’s nuclear policies and intentions to intense scrutiny by its adversaries, its allies, and—crucially—its citizens. This presents a significant democratic challenge for nuclear-armed countries and the international community. Despite the profound implications for national and international security, the intense secrecy means that most individuals—not only including the citizens of nuclear-armed countries and others that would bear the consequences of nuclear use, but also lawmakers in nuclear-armed and nuclear umbrella states that vote on nuclear weapons programs and policies—do not have much understanding of how countries make fateful decisions about what to target during wartime, and how. When lawmakers in nuclear-armed countries approve military spending bills that enhance or increase nuclear and conventional forces, they often do so with little knowledge of how those bills could have implications for nuclear targeting plans.
June 30, 2025 at 2:09 PM
elianajjohns.bsky.social
Want to learn more about who controls one of the most powerful nuclear arsenals in the world???

Check out this excellent piece in @postopinions.bsky.social by my good friend and colleague, @mknight.bsky.social!
mknight.bsky.social Mackenzie Knight-Boyle @mknight.bsky.social · Jun 18
Really proud of my new piece on the president’s nuclear launch authority for our team @scientistsorg.bsky.social’s Next Nuclear Age series in @washingtonpost.com ! Unfortunately it turned out to be quite a timely one. Give it a read ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Opinion | Only one American can start a nuclear war: The president
The American president has the sole authority to order a nuclear strike, even if every adviser in the room is against it.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
atomicwonk.bsky.social
Amazing article by the amazing @mknight.bsky.social of @scientistsorg.bsky.social in today's WPost on the president's sole and unchecked authority to start a #nuclear war. Well worth your time. Well worth your action to oppose this dangerous policy. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...
Opinion | Only one American can start a nuclear war: The president
The American president has the sole authority to order a nuclear strike, even if every adviser in the room is against it.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 18, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
nktpnd.bsky.social
My latest: @projectsyndicate.bsky.social asked me (and four other analysts) to offer our thoughts on whether US allies should begin thinking about building their own nuclear weapons. My answer: as bad as things look now, proliferation can make things worse. www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/tru...
A New Nuclear Calculus?
Thorsten Benner, et al consider whether America's friends and allies should pursue their own nuclear-weapons capabilities.
www.project-syndicate.org
June 15, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
postopinions.bsky.social
"To understand how it could all go wrong, it is useful to look at some examples of how it almost did."

@nukestrat.bsky.social, @mattkorda.bsky.social, @elianajjohns.bsky.social and @alliemaloney.bsky.social of @scientistsorg.bsky.social have the latest: wapo.st/4jK0VjO
June 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
scientistsorg.bsky.social
"If a nuclear war happens, it could very well start by accident."

From @nukestrat.bsky.social, @mattkorda.bsky.social, @elianajjohns.bsky.social, and @alliemaloney.bsky.social in @postopinions.bsky.social "How Nuclear War Could Start"

🔗 below
June 11, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by Eliana Johns
postopinions.bsky.social
"Humans are imperfect, so nuclear near-misses and accidents are a fact of life for as long as these weapons exist."

@nukestrat.bsky.social, @mattkorda.bsky.social, @elianajjohns.bsky.social and @alliemaloney.bsky.social of @scientistsorg.bsky.social have the latest: wapo.st/4jK0VjO
June 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM