Cruise missiles
Sir, — The article on the Cruise nuclear missile (March 19) contains fallacies. The deterrence argument is irrelevant in the face of continuing military escalation, which increases the appeal of a pre-emptive strike to defence planners detached from the human world and encouraged by the travesty of S.A.L.T. Terms such as “cost-effectiveness” When applied to a means of mass destruction also reveal the perverse thinking of these people, reducing the reality of the callous massacre of millions to mere financial equations. It is misleading to say that the cruise missile is more vulnerable than the ballistic for its supposed advantage is that it follows the contour of the land, .thus evading radar detection. Its small size when compared with an 1.C.8.M; further reduces the chance of interception, and sophisticated navigational aids give it high accuracy.- A final error is in the calculation of the sums involved. The figure given as excess after a $lO,OOO million “saving” is S3OO million greater than is actually correct. — Yours, etc., MICHAEL POTTER; March 20, 1980.
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Press, 24 March 1980, Page 16
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172Cruise missiles Press, 24 March 1980, Page 16
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