Frank Kuhn
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frankkuhn.bsky.social
Frank Kuhn
@frankkuhn.bsky.social
1.4K followers 990 following 480 posts
Doctoral Researcher @PRIF.org | Coordinator @cntrarmscontrol.org | Nuclear Scholar @poni.csis.org | Nuclear Weapons | Arms Control | Nuclear Deterrence | Cold War History | Military Technology and Strategy | Opinions my own
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Reposted by Frank Kuhn
thebulletin.org
Germany hasn't had its own nuclear weapons program since 1945, and nobody in Berlin is asking for a German bomb.

So why do so many in the United States suggest otherwise?

Read more from @philipprombach.bsky.social. ⬇️
No, Germany is not getting the Bomb. Why should it?
Germany hasn't had an indigenous nuclear weapons program since 1945, and nobody in Berlin is asking for a German bomb. So why so many in the United States suggest otherwise?
thebulletin.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
gloefflmann.bsky.social
Demnächst Statement aus Berlin: ‘Bei FCAS ging es nie um ein gemeinsames Kampfflugzeug der 5. Generation, einen Loyal Wingman oder eine Combat Cloud, sondern die Stärkung der europäischen strategischen Souveränität und der deutsch-franz. Beziehungen über zwei komplett separate nationale Programme.‘
November 26, 2025 at 9:56 AM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“If Kyiv succeeds in building a modern air force with more than 200 new Western warplanes, it would wind up operating a mixed fighter jet fleet — something some Western countries are reluctant to do because of the logistical difficulties, as well as issues with training pilots and mechanics.”
Ukraine’s high-flying air power plans face turbulence
Running fleets of incompatible aircraft creates problems with logistics and pilot training, and Kyiv also faces cash issues.
www.politico.eu
November 23, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
cntrarmscontrol.org
Autonome Waffen, Verifikation & Überwachung – wie verändert #KI die globale Sicherheit? @niklasschoernig.bsky.social, @mgoettsche.bsky.social, Andrea Lübcke @gruene.de & Thorsten Wetzling diskutierten am 6.11. mit @erzsewa.bsky.social bei der @berlinscienceweek.bsky.social
Künstliche Intelligenz, Krieg und Kontrolle – Was ist Hype, was echte Gefahr?
YouTube video by PRIF
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:10 AM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“The lack of AESA radar in other European fighters means that the F-35 is the best option for regional drone defense, at least until those other fighters receive the proper radar upgrades.”
Drones and Mass Salvo Attacks: Lessons Learned from the American Defense of Israel - Foreign Policy Research Institute
On a cool night in April 2024, the Iranian military surprised American and coalition war planners. It launched a massive salvo of drones, cruise missiles, and
www.fpri.org
November 22, 2025 at 10:17 PM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“The United States and Russia will agree to extend the validity of treaties on the non-proliferation and control of nuclear weapons, including the START I Treaty.” 🤨
Annotated: the full text of Donald Trump’s 28-point Ukraine-Russia peace plan
Draft agreement has shocked Europe and is unlikely to satisfy Kyiv or Moscow
on.ft.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:35 PM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“[T]he ‘local’ balance of military power—the balance between the conventional forces of the attacker and those of a defender in the area of conflict—often plays a critical role in conventional deterrence [...] overall superiority may be insufficient to establish deterrence.”

CC @greenpeace.de
Third, and finally, the “local” balance of military power—the balance between the conventional forces of the attacker and those of a defender in the area of conflict—often plays a critical role in conventional deterrence, since it is local forces that will impact an aggressor’s calculations regarding a quick victory.27 If US adversaries seek relatively short and inexpensive wars, and if the key to deterring conventional aggression is convincing those adversaries that they will not be able to achieve such an objective, then credible and effective deterrence requires that US forces be in or near the region, or readily able to deploy, for an immediate response. When the local balance favors the adversary, deterrence is more likely to fail because the regime will calculate that it can achieve a rapid success. When the local balance favors the defender, deterrence is more likely to succeed.28 The importance of the local power balance in deterrence calculations suggests that US conventional superiority in and of itself is not as relevant as some analysts have suggested.29 In fact, the available evidence suggests that overall superiority may be insufficient to establish deterrence
November 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
poni.csis.org
CLOSING NEXT WEEK: PONI's NSI applications are due on Monday, November 17 - don't forget to submit yours!

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
November 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
cntrarmscontrol.org
Last week we presented our new CNTR Monitor “New Realities of AI in Global Security” with stakeholders in political Berlin. Thank you very much to the Federal Foreign Office @diplo.de and the Ministry of Defense, as well as MPs @sarananni.bsky.social and Ralf Stegner for the productive discussions.
Group of people standing on staircase with publications in their hands Group of people standing in a courtyard with publications in their hands Group of people sitting at a long table with microphones Group of people sitting at a long table with microphones
November 12, 2025 at 12:20 PM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
Highly insightful piece on interoperability: “Sometimes, even STANAG compliance is insufficient to ensure technical interoperability. [...] Ukrainian forces found that they were unable to set the fuzes from a non-US NATO nation with their US-supplied inductive fuze setters.”
Guns and Ammo: The Ukraine War and NATO’s Ammunition Interoperability Problem - Modern War Institute
If the war in Ukraine has reinforced one truism of modern warfare, it is that artillery remains the king of battle. Its central role in Ukrainian combat operations has been sustained by the commitment...
mwi.westpoint.edu
November 11, 2025 at 9:35 AM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“It is not likely to be an accident that unprecedented progress in arms control occurred at the same time that the Soviet system first liberalized and then disintegrated.”

Jervis, Robert. “Arms Control, Stability, and Causes of War.” Political Science Quarterly 108, no. 2 (1993): 239–53.
The belief that the main cause of war is aggressive states is often linked to the claim that aggressiveness is correlated with, if not caused by, domestic repression. Although for years dismissed if not ridiculed by many arms controllers, this argument receives more than a little support from recent events. It is not likely to be an accident that unprecedented progress in arms control occurred at the same time that the Soviet system first liberalized and then disintegrated. Obstacles which were enormous when Leonid Brezhnev and his predecessors were in power have vanished with Mikhail Gorbachev and the subsequent revolution. This is not to say that all dangers have passed, or that nothing would have been possible without extensive changes within the Soviet Union and its successors, but it does appear that the success of arms control has been driven less by technological breakthroughs, intellectual ingenuity, and shifts in the balance of power than by internal changes which reconstructed the Soviet and post-Soviet polity.
November 10, 2025 at 12:29 PM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“Suppression of enemy air defenses should become a core competency for American attack helicopter pilots. [...] Without the capability to conduct their own suppression of enemy air defenses in support of their primary missions, helicopters will watch the next war from the sidelines.”
Attack Helicopters Must Hunt the Hunters
“Bingo” means the point of no return: the call that fuel is running dry and the mission is over. The same call now threatens the attack helicopter itself.
warontherocks.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:22 PM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
🚄 Im ICE mit 40 Minuten Verspätung: „Es tut mir leid, Sie heute wieder in diesem Maße herausfordern zu müssen.“
November 7, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
cntrarmscontrol.org
The new CNTR Monitor is here!
We take a look at technological trends with an impact on peace and security. The first half is dedicated to this year's focus topic, “New Realities of AI in Global Security”.
Read online or download here: monitor.cntrarmscontrol.org/en/2025/
#openaccess
Image shows the cover of the CNTR Monitor 2025 with the title "New Realities of AI in Global Security" and the text: CNTR Monitor 2025 - Focus. How artificial intelligence impacts global security: Geopolitics of chip production. AI 'arms race' talk. AI in the military. AI developments in... Biotechnology, Chemistry, Verification. Published on November 6, 2025.
November 6, 2025 at 8:37 AM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
Good Morning Berlin! 🌅
November 6, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
warontherocks.bsky.social
If American attack helicopters can’t take out enemy air defenses, they won’t fly at all.
Attack Helicopters Must Hunt the Hunters
“Bingo” means the point of no return: the call that fuel is running dry and the mission is over. The same call now threatens the attack helicopter itself.
warontherocks.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
cntrarmscontrol.org
KI schafft neue Realitäten in der internationalen Sicherheit. Warum wir deshalb KI-Regulierung neu denken müssen, schreiben @k3kr.bsky.social und @mgoettsche.bsky.social in einem Gastbeitrag für @table.media (€) – und geben dabei einen Ausblick auf den neuen CNTR Monitor, der am 6.11. erscheint.
Wir müssen KI-Regulierung neu denken
Bisherige Ansätze in der Rüstungskontrolle könnten nicht mit dem Innovationstempo von KI mithalten, schreiben die Forscher Kadri Reis und Malte Göttsche. Deshalb empfehlen sie hier und ab Donnerstag i...
table.media
November 5, 2025 at 8:22 AM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“A French Army artillery demonstration in pouring rain in the south-east of the country last week showed the limits of modern warfare: When the weather gets miserable, cannons may still fire, but drones stay grounded.”
In rain and mud, French artillery unit shows lessons from Ukraine war
The demonstration showed how France’s 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment is trying to adapt to a drone-dominated battlefield.
www.defensenews.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
rafaelloss.bsky.social
Reuters: "A military source said a [ground-launched] 9M729 fired by Russia on October 5 flew over 1,200 km to its impact in Ukraine."

Exclusive: Russia uses missile in Ukraine that led Trump to quit nuclear treaty [in 2019], Kyiv says www.reuters.com/business/aer...
www.reuters.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:25 AM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
A great overview on the use of additive manufacturing in the military technology sector by @liskasuckau.bsky.social. 👇
prif.org PRIF @prif.org · 28d
Additive Manufacturing in the Military Technology Sector: In the new PRIF Report, @liskasuckau.bsky.social pro­vides a unique over­view of the socio-­technical environ­ment of this emerged technology, coloquially known as 3D printing.
Additive Manufacturing in the Military Technology Sector
New PRIF Report by Liska Suckau
www.prif.org
October 31, 2025 at 8:10 AM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“[N]uclear targeting would focus primarily on Russian territory and probably on Belarus but no longer – as in the Cold War – on NATO terrain.”

At the same time, this makes the risk of rapid escalation even more likely than during the Cold War...
Why NATO needs a new nuclear strategy
Opinion: A modern NATO nuclear strategy does not require reinventing the wheel, writes German defense analyst Karl-Heinz Kamp.
www.defensenews.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Frank Kuhn
cntrarmscontrol.org
Fresh off the press: The new CNTR Monitor will be published on November 6. This year we focus on AI and its impacts on global security: how it's used in the military, dual-use risks of AI applications in biotechnology and chemistry, but also opportunities for verification. Stay tuned!
Stack of boxes with some publications stacked on top of it, the publications have a blue and red cover with a photo of a landscape on it and the title "CNTR Monitor 2025"
October 27, 2025 at 12:51 PM
frankkuhn.bsky.social
“European Long-range Strike Approach (ELSA)” 😬
rafaelloss.bsky.social Rafael Loss @rafaelloss.bsky.social · Oct 27
"The Bundeswehr plans to buy 400 Tomahawk Block Vb cruise missiles for roughly €1.15 billion, along with three Lockheed Martin Typhon launchers valued at €220 million — a combination that would give Germany a 2,000-kilometer strike reach." www.politico.eu/article/germ...

h/t @bjoernm.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 8:35 AM