West May Boost Nuclear Power

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31341, 11 April 1967, Page 13

West May Boost Nuclear Power

WASHINGTON, April 9. The Defence Ministers of seven North Atlantic Treaty Organisation nations have agreed that if the Soviet Union persists in building an anti-ballistic missile system, the West should boost its strategic nuclear offensive capability, authoritative sources said today.

In effect, this would mean an increase in the 7000 American nuclear warheads in Europe and the thousands more maintained in the strategic forces in the United States.

A major part of the meeting was devoted to the antiballistic missile problem, the known Soviet deployment of such a system around Moscow, the United States-Soviet talks aimed at securing a moratorium on such a deployment, and the status of America's own anti-missile ballistic, research programme. Conference sources said that there was a consensus that by far the best course was for the United States to strive for an agreement with the Russians tn halt, deployment and any further spiral in the arms race. But, if that effort failed, then the policy would be to expand the Wests offensive missile forces so that the Soviet anti-missile ballistic system would be literally saturated by intercontinental missiles in the event of war. In other words, it was explained, the Ministers agreed that the best nuclear-age defence remained a powerful offence. The sources thus indicated

that there was only limited interest at this time in the possible construction of antiballistic missile systems in the United States and Europe. However, it become dear that if a system was ever built in Europe it would probably be American-owned and American-operated. The method of financing it was not dismissed, although it would be “very expensive,” the sources said. In discussing Western strength, the United States Defence Secretary, Mr Robert McNamara, told the group that tire United States now held a five or six to one margin of superiority over the Soviet Union in terms of separate targetable warheads. This new public disclosure compares with the previously stated United States superiority of about three to one, the Associated Press reported.