tiated offensive force reductions which would enable us to maintain the balance at far lower levels of armaments. The Soviet Union has also greatly expanded its nuclear forces of less-than-intercontinental range, which primarily threaten our friends and allies. The USSR has developed an entirely new generation of nuclear short-range ballistic missiles. Of gravest concern has been the creation and subsequent rapid expansion of the SS-20 longer-range intermediate-range missile force, which threatens our friends and allies in Europe and Asia. NATO had no equiv alent systems when the USSR began to field this modern, mobile, highly accurate, triplewarhead missile. As of September 1985, the Soviets had deployed 441 SS-20s, with over 1,200 warheads. Not only is the SS-20 force continuing to grow, but the Soviets are also testing a modified version of the SS-20 which is expected to be even more accurate. In contrast, NATO plans to deploy 572 single-warhead PERSHING II and ground-launched cruise missiles and stands ready to reduce or reverse those deployments if we can reach an equitable, verifiable arms reduction agreement with the USSR. The Soviet ballistic missile defense network is designed to provide the Soviets early warning of a missile attack on the USSR. Launch detection satellites and over-the-horizon radars would provide the initial indication of missile launches. As missiles approach the Soviet landmass, the Hen House and soon-to-be-completed large phased-array radars will indicate how many missiles were fired and their impact points. Since these radars have such a target tracking capability, the 1972 ABM Treaty requires that they be located on the nation's periphery facing outward. In this manner they could not support a nationwide ABM system, which is prohibited by the ABM Treaty. The Soviets are building six of these new large, phased-array radars. Under the ABM Treaty of 1972, both the USSR and the U.S. are allowed to deploy up to 100 ABM launchers at a single location; either around the national capital or an ICBM complex. The Soviets have chosen to deploy their system around Moscow. They are currently upgrading their system with the construction of silos to replace and augment their older above-ground launchers. The new defenses could be fully operational by 1987. These silos will house two new interceptor missiles, now under development, which will provide a two-layer defense. The long-range modified Galosh is designed to engage targets outside the earth's atmosphere while a new high acceleration missile is being developed for intercepts within the earth's atmosphere. Radars, such as the "Try Add" and a new large engagement radar under construction at Pushkino, will control ABM engagements. In addition to the above, the Soviets would have prototypes for ground-based lasers for ballistic missile defense by the late 1980s. Testing of components for a large-scale system could begin in the early 1990s. With the development of an orbital ASAT (Antisatellite) interceptor over a decade ago, Moscow signaled its intention to use space as an arena for war. The Soviets conduct about 100 space launches a year, five times that of the U.S. Major investments in space continue, including the development of a space shuttle virtually identical to ours. The principle difference being that the Soviet space shuttle has no rocket engines in its tail section. They are also testing a scale-model of a space plane, the full-sized version of which could be used to shuttle cosmonauts to permanently manned earth orbiting space complexes or possibly in an antisatellite role. Pictured is a Soviet ship involved in a recovery operation following a test launch of the scalemodel space plane which landed in the Indian Ocean. In recent years the Soviets have maintained a near continuous manned presence in space. |