Congressional Research Service Reports - 79 Matching Results

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Air Force Aerial Refueling

Description: Aerial refueling aircraft are key to air operations. The U.S. tanker fleet is large and effective, but old. Modernizing or replacing the current fleet of tankers presents the Department of Defense (DOD) with difficult choices in terms of desired capabilities, force structure, and budget. How this fleet will be maintained or replaced, and on what schedule, has proven controversial.
Date: September 19, 2005
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Conventional Warheads for Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides an overview of the Administration’s rationale for the possible deployment of conventional warheads on long-range ballistic missiles. It then reviews the Air Force and Navy efforts to develop these systems. It summarizes congressional reaction to these proposals, then provides a more detailed account of the issues raised by these concepts and programs.
Date: September 6, 2005
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1997-2004

Description: This report is prepared annually to provide unclassified quantitative data on conventional arms transfers to developing nations by the United States and foreign countries for the preceding eight calendar years. Some general data are provided on worldwide conventional arms transfers, but the principal focus is the level of arms transfers by major weapons suppliers to nations in the developing world. The data in the report illustrate how global patterns of conventional arms transfers have changed… more
Date: August 29, 2005
Creator: Grimmett, Richard F.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program: Background, Status, and Issues

Description: This report discusses the background, status, and current issues of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The F-35 JSF, also called the Lighting II, is a new strike fighter being procured in different versions by the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. The F-35 program is the Department of Defense's (DOD's) largest weapon procurement program in terms of total estimated acquisition cost. This report details the Obama Administration's proposed FY2010 defense budget requests for F-35 program fund… more
Date: August 29, 2005
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Airborne Laser (ABL): Issues for Congress

Description: This report examines the airborne laser (ABL) program and budget status. It also examines a variety of related issues, including the questionable maturity of ABL technologies, the number of ABL platforms the United States should acquire, and to what degree the United STates should invest in alternative technologies in the event that the ABL may not prove successful. This report does not provide a detailed technical assessment of the ABL program (see CRS Report RL30185, The Airborne Laser Anti-M… more
Date: August 18, 2005
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher & Hildreth, Steven A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft

Description: The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft, capable of vertical or short take-off and landing, with forwarding flight like a conventional fixed-wing aircraft. The MV-22 is the Marine Corps’ top aviation priority. Marine Corps leaders believe that the Osprey will provide them an unprecedented capability to quickly and decisively project power from well over the horizon. The Air Force’s CV-22 version will be used for special operations. Army officials have testified that the service has no requirem… more
Date: August 4, 2005
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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"Bunker Busters": Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues, FY2005 and FY2006

Description: The Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) program has been the most controversial nuclear weapon program in Congress for the last several years. Supporters argue that it is needed to attack hard and deeply buried targets (such as leadership bunkers) in countries of concern, thereby deterring or defeating challenges from such nations; critics assert that RNEP would lower the threshold for use of nuclear weapons and prompt other nations to develop nuclear weapons to deter U.S. attack. This repor… more
Date: August 2, 2005
Creator: Medalia, Jonathan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments

Description: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of Iran’s nuclear program since 2003 have revealed significant undeclared activities with potential applications for nuclear weapons, including uranium enrichment facilities and plutonium separation efforts. Ever on the brink of being declared in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran has allowed IAEA inspectors access only when pressed. Iran agreed to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities in exchange for p… more
Date: August 2, 2005
Creator: Squassoni, Sharon
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Cruise Missile Proliferation

Description: Upon the submission of this report, about 75 countries possessed cruise missiles. Many experts predict that anti — ship and land attack cruise missile proliferation will increase in terms of both scope and technological sophistication.
Date: July 28, 2005
Creator: Feickert, Andrew
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Coast Guard Deepwater Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The Deepwater program is a $24-billion, 25-year acquisition program to replace or modernize 93 Coast Guard ships and 207 Coast Guard aircraft. The Coast Guard’s FY2006 budget requests $966 million for the program. Some Members of Congress have strongly criticized the Deepwater program on several grounds. The House version of H.R. 2360, the FY2006 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill, reduces the FY2006 Deepwater funding request to $500 million; the Senate version reduces it… more
Date: July 22, 2005
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Weapons: The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program

Description: Most current U.S. nuclear warheads were built in the 1980s, and are being retained longer than was planned. Yet warheads deteriorate and must be maintained. The current approach monitors them for signs of aging. When problems are found, a Life Extension Program (LEP) rebuilds and replaces components. Modifying some critical components would require a nuclear test, but a nuclear test moratorium is in effect. Therefore, LEP rebuilds these components as closely as possible to original specificatio… more
Date: July 20, 2005
Creator: Medalia, Jonathan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Military Aircraft, the F/A-18EF Super Hornet Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The decision to undertake the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program was made during a period of great turbulence in Navy aviation modernization. During this time frame, the Navy struggled to identify and implement the best way to modernize its aging fleet of F-14 fighters and A-6E attack aircraft. The A-12 program (a stealthy replacement to the A-6E) was terminated in January 1991. The AFX program, another proposed replacement for the A-6E, began in 1991 but was also terminated.
Date: July 13, 2005
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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"Bunker Busters": Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues, FY2005 and FY2006

Description: The Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) program has been the most controversial nuclear weapon program in Congress for the last several years. Supporters argue that it is needed to attack hard and deeply buried targets (such as leadership bunkers) in countries of concern, thereby deterring or defeating challenges from such nations; critics assert that RNEP would lower the threshold for use of nuclear weapons and prompt other nations to develop nuclear weapons to deter U.S. attack. This repor… more
Date: July 6, 2005
Creator: Medalia, Jonathan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Coast Guard Deepwater Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The Deepwater program is a $24-billion, 25-year acquisition program to replace or modernize 93 Coast Guard ships and 207 Coast Guard aircraft. The Coast Guard’s FY2006 budget requests $966 million for the program. Some Members of Congress have strongly criticized the Deepwater program on several grounds. The House version of H.R. 2360, the FY2006 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill, reduces the FY2006 Deepwater funding request to $500 million; the Senate version reduces it… more
Date: June 28, 2005
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Pros and Cons

Description: The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) would ban all nuclear explosions. President Clinton signed it in 1996 and transmitted it to the Senate in 1997. The Senate rejected it in 1999. To enter into force, 44 named nations, including the United States, must ratify the treaty. The Bush Administration opposes ratification but has maintained a moratorium on nuclear testing begun in 1992. This report presents pros and cons of key arguments: the treaty’s implications for nuclear nonproliferation, fo… more
Date: June 28, 2005
Creator: Medalia, Jonathan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Aircraft Carriers: Proposed Retirement of USS John F. Kennedy - Issues and Options for Congress

Description: The Navy’s FY2006 budget proposes retiring the conventionally powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CV-67) in FY2006 and reducing the size of the carrier force from 12 ships to 11. The Kennedy is homeported in Mayport, FL. The proposal would not retire any other ships or any carrier air wings. Prior to this proposal, the Navy’s plan was to maintain a 12-carrier force and keep the Kennedy in operation until 2018. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the proposal to… more
Date: June 28, 2005
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

"Bunker Busters": Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues, FY2005 and FY2006

Description: The Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) program has been the most controversial nuclear weapon program in Congress for the last several years. Supporters argue that it is needed to attack hard and deeply buried targets (such as leadership bunkers) in countries of concern, thereby deterring or defeating challenges from such nations; critics assert that RNEP would lower the threshold for use of nuclear weapons and prompt other nations to develop nuclear weapons to deter U.S. attack. This repor… more
Date: June 23, 2005
Creator: Medalia, Jonathan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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