Nuclear Weapons and Strategic Deterrence

This two-day course will provide a broad introduction to the technology and operations of nuclear weapons and concepts of strategic deterrence. It makes use of unclassified and declassified source material to help you understand the environment of nuclear weapons of today. You will learn how nuclear weapons work, how they are operated, and the effects they can create. You will also learn about nuclear war planning, employment policies, strategic exercises, and treaties. Case studies will provide critical context for examining how theories of nuclear threats and use play out in the real world. The focus will be on US nuclear weapon systems and deterrence design but will include contrasting review of relevant Soviet/Russian systems and perspectives. The nuclear systems of the other nuclear weapon states will be covered as well. The course concludes with an examination of current trends and headlines. Dr. Jonathan C. Bierce is the Chief Analyst for the Sea Control Mission Area of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, focusing on undersea warfare (USW). Since 2001, Dr. Bierce’s span of work includes engineering research and development, tactical analyses, and the technology, operations, and analytics of deterrence. He served as a Special Government Employee with USW expertise in support of the Defense Science Board. A submarine officer prior to joining the Laboratory, he has experience in theater intelligence operations. Dr. Bierce holds a BS in Physics from MIT, an MS in Applied Physics from the Johns Hopkins University, an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University, and a DEng from the George Washington University. He is a member of US Strategic Command’s Academic Alliance. Nuclear Weapons and Strategic Deterrence - Free Short Session recording link Overall good class. Very comprehensive, with both depth and breadth. Lots of good videos and examples to drive home the point. I think this course would be most useful for someone new to APL/strategic deterrence. As someone who has been in the SDMA for about a decade, I guess I had absorbed a lot more information than I realized because a decent amount of it were things that I already knew, but I still found the class informative and useful. I thought the instructor did a really good job and was clear and concise in his delivery. I enjoyed him taking the time to bring everything back to the objectives and goals of the course at various points to remind us on how far we had progressed through the material. I thought that the instructor was very clear with his delivery and did a good job of covering the topics that were included in the course. His overall knowledge of the topics presented was impressive. REGISTRATION: There is no obligation or payment required to enter the Registration for an actively scheduled course. We understand that you may need approvals but please register as early as possible or contact us so we know of your interest in this course offering. SCHEDULING: If this course is not on the current schedule of open enrollment courses and you are interested in attending this or another course as an open enrollment, please contact us at (410)956-8805 or [email protected]. Please indicate the course name, number of students who wish to participate. and a preferred time frame. ATI typically schedules open enrollment courses with a 3-5 month lead-time. To express your interest in an open enrollment course not on our current schedule, please email us at [email protected]. For on-site pricing, you can use the request an on-site quote form, call us at (410)956-8805, or email us at [email protected]. We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies. Manage your cookie preferences below: Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website. These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website. These cookies are used for managing login functionality on this website. Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website. Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions. Service URL: policies.google.com (opens in a new window) Vimeo is a video hosting platform for high-quality content, ideal for creators and businesses to showcase their work. Service URL: vimeo.com (opens in a new window) You can find more information in our Cookie Policy and .