Congressional Research Service Reports - 40 Matching Results
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- Seafarer: Extremely Low Frequency Naval Communications System
- No Description Available.
- Increased U.S. Military Sales to China: Arguments and Alternatives
- The report examines the current debate in the United States over proposals for increased U.S. military sales to China. The study first examines the background of U.S.-China security ties since the Nixon Administration, and then sets forth the parameters of the current debate by noting a number of issues concerning U.S. military transfers to China on which all sides generally agree. It shows that Americans familiar with the issue tend to identify with different groups of opinion or "schools of thought" on the question of U.S. military transfers to China, and provides a detailed pro-con analysis of the issue. It concludes by noting cross pressures that are likely to greet U.S. policy makers as they grapple with this issue in the months ahead and offers an assessment of four policy options of possible use by U.S. policymakers.
- Space Issues
- No Description Available.
- Cruise Missile Inventories and NATO Attacks on Yugoslavia: Background Information
- This short report provides background information on the Air Force’s Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM) and the conventionally armed version of the Navy’s Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile (TLAM).
- C-17 Cargo Aircraft Program
- The C-17 Globemaster III is a long-range cargo/transport aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force since 1993. Congress approved development of the aircraft in the late 1970s, when it was recognized that the Air Force did not have enough airlift capability. In 1981, the McDonnell Douglas C-17 emerged as winner of a competition with Boeing and Lockheed to develop a next-generation aircraft to replace C-130s and C-141s.
- Chemical Weapons Convention: Issues for Congress
- The Convention provides the most extensive and intrusive verification regime of any arms control treaty, extending its coverage to not only governmental but also civilian facilities. The Convention also requires export controls and reporting requirements on chemicals that can be used as warfare agents and their precursors. The CWC establishes the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to oversee the Convention's implementation. Chemical Weapons Convention implementing legislation, as S. 610, passed the Senate unanimously on May 23, 1997. This legislation, which was an amendment in the nature of a substitute reported from the Judiciary Committee, provides the statutory authority for domestic compliance with the Convention's provisions. It sets criminal and civil penalties for the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer, possession, or use of chemical weapons.
- Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
- No Description Available.
- Arms Sales: Congressional Review Process
- This report reviews the process and procedures that currently apply to congressional consideration of foreign arms sales proposed by the President. This includes consideration of proposals to sell major defense equipment, defense articles and services, or the re-transfer to third party nations of such military items.
- Nuclear Weapons in Russia: Safety, Security, and Control Issues
- No Description Available.
- Project BioShield
- No Description Available.
- China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues
- Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. China has taken some steps to mollify U.S. concerns about its role in weapons proliferation. Skeptics question whether China's cooperation in weapons nonproliferation has warranted President Bush's pursuit of stronger bilateral ties. This report discusses the national security problem of China's role in weapons proliferation and issues related to the U.S. policy response, including legislation, since the mid-1990s.
- Small-scale Terrorist Attacks Using Chemical and Biological Agents: An Assessment Framework and Preliminary Comparisons
- No Description Available.
- Navy CVN-21 Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Nuclear Weapons: The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program
- 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 specifications. Using this approach, the Secretaries of Defense and Energy have certified stockpile safety and reliability for the past nine years without nuclear testing.
- Navy CVN-21 Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- The Navy's proposed FY2007 budget requests $739 million in advance procurement funding for CVN-78, the first ship in the CVN-21 class of aircraft carriers, and $45 million in advance procurement funding for the aircraft carrier CVN-79, the second ship in the class. The House version of the FY2007 defense appropriations bill (H.R. 5631) recommends approving this request.
- Navy CVN-21 Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Navy DDG-1000 (DD(X)) and CG(X) Programs: Background and Issues for Congress
- The Navy's proposed FY2007 budget requests $2,568 million in partial procurement funding for the first two DDG-1000 destroyers. The House version of the FY2007 defense appropriations bill (H.R. 5631) recommends approving this requested funding to instead fully fund the procurement of one DDG-1000. For a longer discussion of the DDG-1000 and CG(X), see CRS Report FL32109, Navy DDG-1000 (DD(X)), CG(X), and LCS Ship Acquisition Programs: Oversight Issues and Options for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
- Navy Ship Procurement: Alternative Funding Approaches -- Background and Options for Congress
- Some observers have proposed procuring Navy ships using incremental funding or advance appropriations rather than the traditional full funding approach that has been used to procure most Navy ships. Supporters believe these alternative funding approaches could increase stability in Navy shipbuilding plans and perhaps increase the number of Navy ships that could be built for a given total amount of ship-procurement funding. The issue for the 109th Congress is whether to maintain or change current practices for funding Navy ship procurement. Congress's decision could be significant because the full funding policy relates to Congress's power of the purse and its responsibility for conducting oversight of defense programs.
- Navy Trident Submarine Conversion (SSGN) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- The FY2006 budget completed the funding required in the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) account for the Navy's program to refuel and convert four Trident ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) into cruise-missile-carrying and special operations forces (SOF) support submarines (SSGNs). The first two converted SSGNs reentered service in 2006; the other two are scheduled to reenter service by late 2007. The total estimated cost of the four-boat conversion program is about $4.0 billion.
- Navy Trident Submarine Conversion (SSGN) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Navy Trident Submarine Conversion (SSGN) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections since 2003 have revealed almost two decades' worth of undeclared nuclear activities in Iran, including uranium enrichment and plutonium separation efforts. The Security Council called upon Iran to take steps requested of it by the IAEA Board in February -- reinstate its suspension of enrichment and reprocessing, reconsider construction of its heavy water reactor, ratify and implement the Additional Protocol, and implement transparency measures. Iran has continued enrichment activities and failed to meet the Security Council's request.
- Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections since 2003 have revealed almost two decades' worth of undeclared nuclear activities in Iran, including uranium enrichment and plutonium separation efforts. The Security Council called upon Iran to take steps requested of it by the IAEA Board in February -- reinstate its suspension of enrichment and reprocessing, reconsider construction of its heavy water reactor, ratify and implement the Additional Protocol, and implement transparency measures. Iran has continued enrichment activities and failed to meet the Security Council's request.
- U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Current Legislation
- No Description Available.
- Air Force Aerial Refueling
- This report considers the future of the U.S. tanker fleet for aerial refueling.
- Air Force Transformation
- This report considers how the Air Force is changing itself to meet new defensive needs. The issues for Congress on this are mostly budgetary and how effective it will be.
- Taiwan: Major U.S. Arms Sales Since 1990
- This report discusses U.S. security assistance to Taiwan (calling itself Republic of China (ROC)), including policy issues for Congress and legislation.
- Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress
- This report discusses the process of naming Navy ships, which have traditionally been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy. Congress in recent years has proposed, and sometimes passed, legislation regarding the naming of specific ships.
- Navy CG(X) Cruiser Program: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress
- This report discusses the reasoning behind the development of the Navy CG(X) cruiser program, the budgetary actions taking place to enable their development, selected technical specifics of their design, and various other information relating to defense procurement costs.
- U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues
- This report reviews the ongoing programs that will affect the expected size and shape of the U.S. strategic nuclear force structure. It begins with an overview of this force structure during the Cold War, and summarizes the reductions and changes that have occurred since 1991. It then offers details about each category of delivery vehicle, focusing on their current deployments and ongoing and planned modernization programs. The report concludes with a discussion of issues related to decisions about the future size and shape of the U.S. strategic nuclear force.
- Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a relatively inexpensive Navy surface combatant equipped with modular "plug-and-fight" mission packages. The Navy's proposed FY2012 budget requests funding for the procurement of four LCSs. Current issues for Congress concerning the LCS program include changes or potential changes to the composition of LCS mission modules announced by the Navy in January 2011, the combat survivability of the LCS, and hull cracking on LCS-1. Congress's decisions on the LCS program could affect Navy capabilities and funding requirements, and the shipbuilding industrial base.
- North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Technical Issues
- This report summarizes what is known from open sources about the North Korean nuclear weapons program - including weapons-usable fissile material and warhead estimates - and assesses current developments in achieving denuclearization.
- Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- CVN-78, CVN-79, and CVN-80 are the first three ships in the Navy's new Gerald R. Ford (CVN- 78) class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (CVNs). This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the CVN-78 program.
- Navy LPD-17 Amphibious Ship Procurement: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
- The Navy's FY2011-FY2015 shipbuilding plan calls for procuring an 11th and final San Antonio (LPD-17) class amphibious ship in FY2012. This report discusses the procurement cost estimates of this ship, as well as related issues for Congress.
- Navy LPD-17 Amphibious Ship Procurement: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
- The Navy's FY2011-FY2015 shipbuilding plan calls for procuring an 11th and final San Antonio (LPD-17) class amphibious ship in FY2012. This report discusses the procurement cost estimates of this ship, as well as related issues for Congress.
- Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
- This report discusses current issues for Congress concerning the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program including the program's mission modules, the combat survivability of the LCS, hull cracking and engine problems on LCS-1, and corrosion on LCS-2. The LCS is a relatively inexpensive Navy surface combatant equipped with modular "plug-and-fight" mission packages. The Navy wants to field a force of 55 LCSs. Twelve LCSs have been funded through FY2012, and the FY2013-FY2017 Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP) calls for procuring 16 more, in annual quantities of 4-4-4-2-2.
- Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress
- This report discusses the process of naming Navy ships, which have traditionally been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy. Congress in recent years has proposed, and sometimes passed, legislation regarding the naming of specific ships.
- Cluster Munitions: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report discusses the background of cluster munitions in the U.S. military, and the current Department of Defense (DOD) and Obama Administration stances on the topic. It also discusses the two major international initiatives to address cluster munitions: the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) and negotiations under the U.N. Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).
- Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, and gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations.
- Iran Nuclear Agreement
- This report provides background on the agreement negotiated by Iran and six other countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany--collectively known as the P5+1) regarding Iran's nuclear program, and discusses the implications for U.S.-Iran relations.