Neutron bomb wait

Press, 20 October 1978, Page 8

Neutron bomb wait

From the “Economist,” London

Ever since last April, when President Carter announced that he would delay building neutron warheads, everyone has been waiting for him either to abandon the weapon entirely or to reservse his decision in the absence of any Russian response. N.A.T.O.’s military commanders all reckon that the neutron warheads, technically known as enhanced radiation weapons, are necessary to halt a Soviet tank attack. They could stop the tanks without blowing large parts of West Germany to smithereens in the process, as ordinary nuclear weapons, now stockpiled by the hundreds, would do. But Mr Carter said he would prefer to wait and see if the Russians could be induced to show some restraint in their own arms programme — without, however, saying how long he would wait. It is now six months since

the postponement, and N.A.T.O. leaders in Europe are becoming anxious. General Haig, who doubles as N.A.T.O.’s European commander and the commander-in-chief of the American forces in Europe, has said several times that he has seen no sign of any Russian restraint. Mr Joseph Luns, N.A.T.O.’s secfetary-general, said recently that he thinks a neutron decision ought to be taken within a couple of months. But nothing seems to be happening in Washington. When Mr Carter announced his postponement in April, he said he was ordering the projectiles that would carry the warheads to be modernised (which would have to be done before they could be fitted with enhanced-radi-ation cores). One of his spokesmen explained that this would avoid delaying the eventual deployment of neutron weapons, assuming the decision to deploy was taken.

But in fact it will be delayed, because even this preliminary modernisation of the projectiles has been put off: it is still awaiting President Carter’s decision on which of several schemes should be used. Thus at least six months have been lost. the Russians are unlikely to show any real straint in return for a weapon that has not yet been ordered. But Mr Carter is equally unlikely to rock the nuclear .boat until after the signing of the Salt 2 agreement, now expected before the end of the year. Once this is signed, ordering the neutron weapons into production might be one way to bargain with a sceptical senate for a Salt 2 ratification. In the meantime, the pressure from N.A.T.O. to start building this new weapon — or at least to start the promised modernisation of the projectiles — will increase.