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Show 6 u i NEWS Nov. 1, 1991 Ha'top Times mm s&ii Vci u la Li u Mel Li giFOiraeo id attack missiles, short-rang- e by Peter Wigginton STATUS OF U.S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS INVENTORY American Forces Information Service Sizable portions of U.S. strategic and theater nuclear forces may be affected by the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks treaty and President Bush's recent nuclear initiative, Department of Defense officials say, but not all will actually be "eliminated." Defense Secretary Dick Cheney called the president's proposal the single biggest change in deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons since 1954. He ground-launche- tactical nuclear d weapons; withdraw all tactical nuclear weapons from ships at sea; take all strategic bombers off alert; stand down from alert status all intercontinental ballistic missiles slated for deactivation under the START treaty; and cancel the Peacekeeper rail garrison program, the mobility phase of the Small Intercontinental Ballistic Misatsile program and the short-rangtack missile II. Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Colin Powell said some 1,300 nuclear e mcJ AfAP T $rfaca-o-aa- e Eltminatad W4B IbS mm Af A T Srlaca-to-aurtae- a ElimiNtad V7 inch AFAP T Surtaca la aurtaca oaaMioa CI SLBM V6 Tndanl IW7 et I Tndant C4 SLBM II OS SLBM Una ft act Undaratar-t-urfac- S Undanwatar-to-auHac- a Unaffactad S Dndarwatar-to-aurlac- a Onaffactad a d tS0--0 Tomahawk T B53 Stratagic Bomb S lrV5 Mmutaman H ICBM S Surfaca-to-aurfac- W62 Mmutaman III ICBM S Surfaca-to-aurfac- a W69 SKAM-- S Air W78 Mmutaman S SuHaca-to-aurlac- a W80--1 ALCKVACM S Off Alart 683 Stratagic Bomb S Off Alart WS4 GLCM T SuHaca-to-turfac- a VY87 Paacaaaapar S Surfact W89 SRAM Surfaca-te-aurlac- to-lu- rf ad 01 ICBM ICBM I Off Alart Off United States. UnaHactad Ramain Off Alart aea Unatfactad Ratirad Undar Traaty to-nj- Unaffactad aca Cancalad By Praaidant S rail-garriso- mncmmmw HUB BombDepth Bomb NAFMC Bomb NAF7MC ma Tactical tubiurfaca All deployed tactical nuclear sys- land-base- d mam Navy: Withdrawn: 900 AF"MC: Unaffactad silo-base- Navy: Withdrawn TacStrit n AFStrat: Off alert silo-basin- Tiken ctt iltn bf secrtitry ol deltnst, June ti 1990 shore, and older ones will eventually be eliminated, the chairman said. "It is correct that the proposal does ballistic misnot include siles," Cheney said. "We believe systems are different from systems. We argue that a missile with multiple warheads on it is a very ripe target for the other side, that there would be a temptation in a crisis to launch rather than lose that capability. systems are radically different. They're survivable, they're hidden, no one knows where tems at sea some 500 aboard attack submarines and surface ships will be returned for storage in the United States. About 50 percent of those returned will ultimately be destroyed. These are older systems that can safely be eliminated continued Powell. bombs carand Nuclear ried aboard aircraft carriers and by P-Orions will return to they are." 7 mm AF TacMC: Unaffactad sea-base- 1 Alarttlimination Accalaratad 8-in- eliminated. The schedule also calls for eliminating 850 Lance warheads-short-ra- nge ballistic missiles. About of total 2,150 weapons are the 1,700 deployed overseas. The rest are in the B-6- treaty. Cheney said the START agreement allows the systems to be eliminated over a seven-yea- r period, but the United States immediately took them off alert status and once the START treaty is ratified, will deactivate and dismantle them at a stepped-u- p pace. Powell explained the United States has 1,000 intercontinental ballistic missiles 450 Minuteman lis, 500 Minuteman Ills and 50 Peacekeepers. "Aboard those 1,000 missiles are some 2,450 warheads. When you remove the...Minuteman lis, you take out 450 warheads. This results in a 45 percent reduction in the number of missiles and roughly a 15 percent reduction in the number of warheads." He said the Peacekeeper program will be killed, but the d current 50 Peacekeepers and their 500 warheads will be kept. The mobile, hardened part of the Small ICBM program will be tenninated, but g the portion will remain in development as the one modernization program that could replace the Minuteman III, Powell said. The SRAM II will be canceled as a result of the president's decision, he added. When the president's initiative and those actions expected of the Soviets acW Undarwatar Withdrawn a W-7- 0 B-5- Strategic Arms Reduction Talks Unfundad enhanced artillery radiation weapon systems will also be U.S.-base- ballistic missiles constrained by the T Tactical II intercontinental 450 Minuteman a' S Nwciaar Dapth Bomb (TLAM N) hours." Also removed from alert status were B90 B61 8 Eliminate that, they could return to alert status in roughly 850 24 155mm shells. All W-4- be necessary to reverse WAV,- B57 shells and 500 Appro 1,300 Eliminatod SuHaca to auHaca T Unc W70 artillery projectiles will be destroyed. These consist of about 500 3 W-3- bombs. "At any one time, about 40 bombers are kept fueled and ready to go on a moment's notice," Powell said. "All 40 were taken off alert the day after the president's announcement. Should it ncm V4 ed cruise missiles and gravity iiiAiiiiil I detailed the initiative in a press briefing following the president's nationally televised speech Sept. 27. The initiative is broken into two categories: tactical and strategic. Among its provisions, Cheney said, the United States would eliminate all mm J.1M air-launch- d sea-base- d land-base- d land-base- Sea-base- d 3 d Of the Navy's tactical systems, nuclear Tomahawk missiles are a variation of Tomahawks used during Operation Desert Storm, said Powell. About 100 such nuclear missiles are routinely deployed at sea. They will all be returned to storage in the United States in case a need ever arises for them to be put back at sea. On the strategic side, Powell added that bombers were removed from alert status. The U.S. bomber fleet consists of about 280 planes a combination of and Aboard those bombers are a combination of B-52- s, B-lB- are accomplished, DoD officials estimate U.S. strategic nuclear forces will consist of about 500 land-baseICBMs, 280 bombers and 430 submarine-launcheballistic missiles. The United States will still have the Trident D-- submarines and missiles, the advanced cruise missile, the B-bomber and the Peacekeeper or Minuteman ICBMs. d d 5 2 s. President's initiative helps Soviets, makes world safer by Jim Garamone American Forces Information Service About 1,700 U.S. weapons overseas will return to U.S. territory. Of these about 1,000 are artillery-fireatomic projectiles, and the other 700 are Lance ballistic missiles. The United States will destroy all ground-base- d theater weapons. The theater weapons, which include nuclear depth bombs and cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads, will be withdrawn from the ships and submarines carrying them. Some will be destroyed, and Pentagon officials said others will be placed in storage and could be returned to ships quickly if needed. Officials said about 50 percent of the theater nuclear systems being brought home will be destroyed. The number is not firm because the theater commanders will determine weapon requirements to satisfy their assigned missions. They will consider d short-range- d If the Soviets follow President George Bush's the chances of accidental or terrorist use of taclead, tical nuclear warheads may decrease. Bush proposed theater tactical nuclear eliminating all and ones from ships weapons withdrawing and submarines. "The president's initiative has two main goals," Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said of Bush's Sept. 27 announcement. "First of all, it makes the world's arsenal of nuclear weapons significantly smaller and the world safer. Secondly, it gives the Soviets the incentive they need to shift their country away from the business of cranking out nuclear weapons and toward the work of building democracy." In his speech to the country, Bush said the deterrent value of these short-rang- e nuclear weapons is small, given the changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The failed coup in the Soviet Union, he said, demanded swifter action on his part. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev indicated he will follow the U.S. lead. Pentagon officials said the incentive for the Soviets to destroy their ground-launchesystems is great because for their theft or seizure is higher than that of strategic nuclear weapons. land-base- d sea-base- d d the-potenti- al sea-base- d sea-launch- ed sea-base- d safety, budgetary limitations and other factors to detennine their needs. Unneeded weapons will be destroyed. Both Cheney and Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the moves will not put the United States at risk. Powell said the deterrent posture remains strong, and it will improve in the future so long as the United States continues to modernize its smaller, but more capable, forces. |
