US–Russia relations and the future of arms control: how the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty could restore engagement on nuclear issues

ABSTRACT

Relations between the United States and Russia are in a prolonged downward spiral. Under these circumstances, cooperation on nuclear issues—once a reliable area of engagement even in difficult political environments—has all but completely halted. There are urgent reasons to find a way out of this situation, particularly the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 2021. However, seemingly intractable disagreements about noncompliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty and US ballistic-missile defense, compounded by the Ukraine crisis, the conflict in Syria, and the accusations of Russian interference in the US election of 2016, threaten the future of arms control. Against this backdrop, policy makers and practitioners should identify ways to re-engage on nuclear issues now so they can be ready to implement them as soon as feasible. This article considers how the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) could serve as a platform for US–Russia cooperation on nuclear issues when circumstances permit. Taking into account the challenges posed by ongoing US non-ratification, it identifies a menu of CTBT-related activities short of ratification that the two countries could undertake together. It explores how joint work on this issue would advance shared US and Russian interests while helping to create the circumstances necessary for further arms-control work.     

The end of the “INF Treaty” and the US-China military balance

ABSTRACT

Whereas much of the debate about the demise of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty has focused on the European context and Russia’s alleged treaty violations, Asia looms large in the minds of proponents of the United States’s immediate withdrawal from the treaty. For many proponents, the fast-changing military balance in Asia and China's conventionally armed missiles constitute a sufficient cause for withdrawal. What does the end of the INF Treaty bode for the US-China military balance? This article argues that, although there are some near-term benefits for the US position in the conventional military balance with China, the advantages offered by prohibited missiles are minor and can be readily substituted by extant capabilities that are compliant with the treaty. Given the negative implications of the end of the INF Treaty for the future of arms control, the costs and benefits of withdrawing from the treaty require further examination; the military balance in Asia is an unpersuasive rationale for withdrawing from an important part of the arms-control architecture.     

ASSESSING RUSSIAN ATTITUDES TOWARD PHASED,DEEP NUCLEAR REDUCTIONS

As the United States and Russia contemplate the next stage of nuclear arms reductions beyond the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, another issue enters the agenda—that of the impact of possible deep reductions on the shape of the global nuclear balance. As the gap between the US/Russian arsenals and the arsenals of “second-tier” nuclear weapon states narrows, the familiar shape of the global balance, which remains, to a large extent, bipolar, is likely to change. The article explores the Russian approach to the relationship between further US-Russian reductions and the prospect of “nuclear multipolarity,” and assesses the relative weight of this issue in Russian arms control policy as well as the views on the two specific regional balances—the one in Europe (including UK and French nuclear weapons) and in Asia (the possible dynamic of the Russian-Chinese nuclear balance).     

NUCLEAR STABILITY AT LOW NUMBERS

Chinese writings on the workings of nuclear stability, deterrence, and coercion are thin and politicized. Nevertheless, it is possible to glean, from direct and inferential evidence, rather pessimistic conclusions regarding Chinese views of nuclear stability at low numbers. While China has been living with low numbers in its own arsenal for decades, today it views missile defense and advanced conventional weapons as the primary threat to nuclear stability. More generally, China views nuclear stability as wedded to political amity. Because none of these would be directly addressed through further US and Russian arsenal reductions, China is unlikely to view such reductions as particularly stabilizing. While there is little in Chinese writing to suggest lower US and Russian numbers would encourage a “race to parity,” there are grounds to worry about China becoming more assertive as it gains confidence in Beijing's own increasingly secure second-strike forces.     

基于多传感器信息系统的仿人机器人步态规划算法改进研究

摘要：基于视觉传感器、角度传感器和力／力矩传感器组成的多传感器信息系统,对仿人机器人理想的步态规划算法进行了改进．以双目视觉立体标定原理处理视觉传感信息,从而判断目标距离及目标路径的可达性;通过角度传感器获取实时旋转角度,经参数调整减小执行误差;根据力／;5矩传感信息对支撑脚踝关节的侧摆角度进行增量式补偿．经实验验证,改进后的算法对机器人的步态稳定性控制具有良好的效果．     

The politics of defense revival in Argentina

In marked contrast with previous decades, defense issues in Argentina have started to receive increasing political attention over the last few years. The main goal of this article is to account for this new found interest in defense policy. The article contends that this revival could be accounted for by both the implementation of a neo-developmentalist strategy and a type of control that emphasizes civilian oversight over the armed forces. Both factors have promoted the implementation of policies that favored an increase in the military budget, the reconstruction of the defense industry and the establishment of a new military doctrine. This article evaluates the impact of factors that have not been previously considered by the literature on defense attention in South America.     

火炮抽筒故障机理研究

针对某自行反坦克炮射击后,抽筒时出现药筒钢底座底缘与圆柱部断裂现象这一抽筒故障,分析计算该火炮正常抽筒所需的理论抽筒力和半自动开闩机构所能提供的实际抽筒力,由此定量分析该故障的主要原因,并提出火炮实弹射击预防抽筒故障的具体措施,对半自动开闩结构设计与改进、部队装备训练与射击具有一定指导和参考价值．     

履带车辆下长坡液力辅助制动控制策略仿真研究

针对履带车辆下长坡制动过程中不同制动力的分配关系,在液力减速器和整车下坡动力学分析的基础上,研究了基于液力辅助制动的履带车辆下长坡制动控制策略,建立了基于SIMULINK的履带车辆整车动态仿真模型,对液力减速器的持续制动性能和控制策略的有效性进行了仿真．结果表明,车辆下坡持续制动时,适时应用液力减速器,能够有效分流整车制动功率,明显降低机械制动器的工作负荷,满足整车安全恒速下坡的要求．     

具有终端约束的制导炸弹模糊变结构制导律设计

针对INS/GPS制导炸弹对地面目标的精确打击问题,提出带落角约束的模糊变结构制导律。在变结构制导律的基础上,引入终端落角约束项,应用模糊规则对所设计制导律中的变结构开关项系数增益进行在线调节。仿真结果表明,在对地面目标进行攻击时,该制导律降低变结构控制系统的抖振,同时满足制导精度和期望落角的要求,具有有效性和鲁棒性。     

直接力/气动力复合控制系统鲁棒稳定性分析

脉冲发动机作为直接力与空气舵复合控制能有效提高导弹的快速性和末端大过载机动能力。由于脉冲发动机的喷流干扰会对复合控制系统的稳定性产生影响,本文在考虑脉冲发动机自身喷流因子效应以及对导弹气动干扰的情况下,把直接力喷流作用等效为弹体的气动力进行建模,并结合复合控制系统的性能指标以及稳定判据,对一类复合控制自动驾驶仪的鲁棒稳定性进行了分析,给出了直接力喷流作用下复合控制系统的满足性能要求的稳定边界。