A nuclear-armed North Korea without ICBMs: the best achievable objective

This article analyzes the North Korean nuclear crisis from a balance-of-power perspective. It is in the long-term interests of international peace for a secure and independent North Korea to serve as a buffer between US and Chinese ground forces. However, the conventional military advantage of the South Korean-American alliance over North Korea has grown drastically since the end of the Cold War, threatening North Korea’s survival. Since North Korea lacks any reliable ally, nuclear weapons represent its most cost-effective way to restore a balance of power and thus secure itself. Accepting security guarantees in exchange for its nuclear arsenal is rhetorically appealing but not a viable approach. North Korea’s development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), however, has overcompensated for the post-Cold War imbalance, inviting talk in Washington of waging a preventive war. Persuading North Korea to give up its ICBM capability, not its nuclear arsenal, should therefore be the primary objective of US diplomacy.     

The rise and fall of counterproliferation policy

The US government initiated a Defense Counterproliferation Initiative to address the concern that, in the post-Cold War years, the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons would be widespread and create a significant challenge to the US military’s combat operations. In particular, non-nuclear states might use chemical or biological warfare agents against US forces with the belief that nuclear weapons would not be used against them in retaliation. Following the events of September 11, 2001, defense strategy and policy shifted to a wider view of the threat of adversarial use of “weapons of mass destruction” (WMD) and the term “counterproliferation” was replaced by “combating” or “countering WMD.” Over time, the Defense Department increasingly moved away from counterproliferation principles with the detrimental effect of losing capabilities that US forces still need for contemporary adversaries. This shift has been aggravated by other US government agencies’ use of “counterproliferation” in lieu of what would have been termed “nonproliferation” activities in the 1990s. The loss of clarity within the US government on these terms has led to the inability to focus the “whole of government” on this significant national security challenge. To alleviate this challenge, the US government needs a top-down initiative to refocus policy on the distinctly different aspects of WMD with respect to military combat operations, combating terrorism, and homeland security.     

4电平S类数字功放的电平合成策略

通过增加量化电平,Delta-Sigma调制器输出序列能够获得更好的调制性能。但在S类数字功放中,受限于开关功放的实现结构,多电平Delta-Sigma调制器输出脉冲序列无法直接驱动开关功放,需采用由多个开关功放单元构成的多电平开关功放。针对2比特Delta-Sigma调制器输出序列,分析了电平合成策略对4电平S类数字功放性能的影响,提出了两种优化的电平合成策略。理论分析和仿真结果表明,采用合适的电平合成策略,4电平S类数字功放可以获得更优的输出性能,尤其在输出功率回退状态下,电平合成策略对功放性能的影响更为显著。     

基于双波段红外辐射信息的红外机动目标跟踪算法

利用双波段IRST系统测到的目标双波段红外辐射信息,推导出目标的伪距离量测信息,使得单站IRST系统变为可观测系统;在此基础上,构建了伪量测方程,采用改进的"当前"统计模型和基于最小偏度单形采样策略的UKF算法,提出了一种基于双波段红外辐射信息的IRST机动目标跟踪算法。理论分析与仿真结果表明,该算法能够有效地跟踪机动目标,具有良好的实际应用价值。     

Amphetamines,Cognitive Enhancement and their Implications for Medical Military Ethics

ABSTRACT

The growing area of military bio-technologies, especially the use of cogniceuticals, raises several ethical concerns for military physicians. These include the role of military physicians in prescribing amphetamines whose long-term effects are largely unknown, and the possible undermining of the ethic of “do no harm,” since amphetamines may diminish a soldier’s moral responsibility. Below, we outline some important questions relating to the ethics of amphetamines and medical military physicians.     

Chemical-weapon use in Syria: atrocities,attribution, and accountability

ABSTRACT

International efforts to hold the government of President Bashar al-Assad accountable for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War have entered a new phase. For the first time, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the international organization responsible for implementing the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, has been empowered to identify the perpetrators of chemical attacks in Syria. The Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), which was formed to conduct the OPCW’s new attribution mission, has announced its intention to investigate and identify the perpetrators of nine chemical attacks in Syria, including the April 7, 2018, attack in Douma. This article reviews recent efforts to attribute chemical attacks in Syria, describes what we know about the nine incidents to be investigated, summarizes what is known about the Syrian government officials, military commanders, and chemical-warfare scientists suspected of being responsible for these attacks, discusses what to expect during the next phase of the attribution process, and offers insights into how the international community can move beyond attribution to accountability. Accountability is necessary to provide justice for victims and to prevent future incidents by demonstrating that perpetrators of chemical attacks will be identified and punished.     

Dirty war: chemical weapon use and domestic repression

The utilization of chemical weapons to quash domestic rebellion is a drastic action for a regime facing domestic challengers to take, especially given the reputation costs and risk of international intervention. However, recent developments have illustrated that some regimes have contemplated and implemented extraordinary measures (including the use of chemical munitions) to quash rebellion. This study addresses the question of why some states utilize chemical weapons against domestic challengers while others refrain from this level of state repression. I argue that the utilization of chemical weapons has both domestic and international elements. Specifically, that ethnic cleavages that lead to secessionist challenges and factors associated with inter-state rivalry impact the likelihood that a state utilizes the employment of chemical munitions. I test my argument and other explanations regarding repression with a casestudy approach utilizing captured Iraqi Government documents comparing Iraq’s Al-Anfal campaigns with developments during the recent Syrian Civil War.     

灰色层次分析决策方法在坦克评估中的应用

给出了利用灰色层次分析决策方法进行评估的一般步骤,并以坦克为例,构建了基于坦克的机动性、防护性、火力性、信息性、可靠性的评估模型。     

柴油机电控喷油系统试验通用装置设计

为了满足电控柴油机教学实验的需要,设计了电控喷油系统实验通用装置。简述了2种电控喷油系统结构、功能和特点,提出了实验装置的总体方案,详述了高压共轨和单体泵组件选择、电控系统以及凸轮转速和相位信号的硬件设计,给出了控制软件和监控软件设计流程,结合调试实验说明了电控喷油系统试验通用装置的可行性。     

高压细水雾灭火系统在地铁车辆中的应用

基于城市轨道交通车辆火灾危险性分析，给出了地铁车辆自动灭火系统设计的基本要求，借鉴欧洲地铁车辆消防的先进经验，提出了高压细水雾灭火系统解决方案，开创性地提出将地铁车辆和车站高压细水雾灭火系统进行整合，实现资源共享，以提高整个地铁系统的防灾救援能力。