Wrap up: Belarus deployed Russian warheads; Australia honors Rep. Joe Courtney; McConnell falls; Air Force commander says don’t forget about NC3; More

Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko said this week that “several dozen” Russian nuclear warheads are deployed in his country, according to state-owned news agency BELTA Tuesday.

“I have brought nuclear warheads here. … Many people are writing: ‘It’s a joke. No one has moved anything anywhere.’ They have. The fact they think it’s a joke means they’ve been asleep on the job. They didn’t even notice us bringing them in,” Lukashenko reportedly said.

Lukashenko’s remarks come after Moscow’s revision of its nuclear doctrine amid tensions with the West and its support of Ukraine. The remarks also came after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty giving security guarantees to Belarus last week, which include using Russian nuclear weapons to repel potential aggression.

The Australian Embassy appointed Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) into the Order of Australia as an Honorary Officer in the General Division during an official dinner on Nov. 18. 

As the ranking member of the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee and co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Australia Caucus, Courtney is a major booster of the AUKUS agreement to help Australia field nuclear-powered attack submarines. His district encompasses General Dynamic’s Electric Boat Groton shipyard that produces American submarines. 

Previous appointees include former Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), former ambassador to South Korea and commander of Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Harry Harris, and retired Gen. David Petraeus. A version of this story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 82, fell Tuesday during the Senate Republican lunch in the Capitol and was absent from the Senate votes on Thursday due to leg stiffness, media reported.

According to a statement by McConnell’s office, the Senate Republican leader “sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist,” but is “cleared to resume his schedule.” This most recent fall followed a few over the years, including one in March 2023 that led to a concussion, fractured rib, and six weeks away from his congressional duties, media reported.

McConnell announced the week before Thanksgiving that he would chair the Appropriations defense subcommittee, which previously advanced its $852.2 billion fiscal year 2025 defense appropriations bill that funds the Pentagon and its arsenal of nuclear weapons delivery platforms and carrier vehicles. McConnell, who has called for generational investments in defense, announced the move to the head of the appropriations subcommittee after saying he would step down as GOP leader, making way for Rep. John Thune (R-S.D.) to take over.

While it may not get the attention that strategic programs, like Sentinel and the B-21, get, modernization of nuclear command and control and communications is vital, according to Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command. 

“My concerns are really bounded by the cyber threat–that’s probably the largest concern,” Bussiere said. “With a digital backbone your ability to upgrade, to do multi-mission architecture for capabilities and capacities, will provide the ability to maintain the systems ahead of any potential threats. 

Bussiere said “it’s a more reliable, resilient system, and I can’t imagine going back and fielding a new capability in the 2020s and 2030s and not taking advantage of the technologies that have been developed over the last several decades. But we have to be wide-eyed and open and make sure we account for and understand the threats and develop a capability and capacity and give our airmen the tools to maintain and secure it. That’s probably my biggest focus.” A version of this story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.

Concern over farmland damage by elk around the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has federal and state authorities considering a plan to widen the hunting boundary around the DOE complex.

DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality are in the midst of a 30-day comment period on whether to expand the hunting area by about 80 square miles. The trio of agencies are taking comments until Dec. 21. 

The proposed expansion affects four areas covered by EPA’s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or Superfund records of decision. “The proposed expansion represents a significant incremental increase in the potential for public exposure to [unexploded] ordnance because previously restricted areas would be accessible by the public for hunting,” according to the hunting comment document.