The CIA Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control Center (WINPAC) provides intelligence support aimed at doing all it can to protect America from the strategic threat of foreign weapons. WINPAC officers are a diverse group with a variety of backgrounds and work experiences. They include engineers (aerospace, nuclear, chemical, mechanical, computer, and electrical, among others), scientists (biologists, chemists, and physicists), and mathematicians as well as officers with backgrounds in proliferation, national security studies, and foreign affairs. Many have advanced degrees and in-depth expertise from other US government entities, private industry, and academia, while others have a Bachelor’s degree in their fields and have learned most of what they know on the job. On any given day, these analysts could be answering a question from the President, assessing information about a foreign missile test, or developing new computational models to determine blast effects. Key parts of the mission include:

• Studying the development of the entire spectrum of threats, from weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, radiological, chemical, and biological weapons) to advanced conventional weapons like lasers, advanced explosives, and armor, as well as all types of missiles, including ballistic, cruise, and surface-to-air. Analysts study systems from their earliest development phase through production, deployment, and transfers to other countries.
• Providing intelligence support to US nonproliferation, threat reduction, and arms control efforts. This provides end-to-end analysis of weapons systems from their development until they are no longer a threat to the US and our Allies.