https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/e97d3eaeb63c0b52c8203c7364263cdc.pdf 032db257bad53835fa352e0fc5a8613a PDF Text Text ,A met cument disclosed mder the -f&cesi t/o Information mc\ Document divulgue en rertu <d-\AL~oi kdc factes a Tinfoif*ation €> DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS X p.3..My.X Subject Z>ate....Apr.U....2.6., 1.9.69 ii IN MISSILES BY T5i Russians Can Surpass U.S. in All Arms, He Asserts . in Plea for Safeguard By WILLIAM BEECHER ! Special La The New York Times WASHINGTON, April 25—\ Defense. Secretary Melvin R. Laird asserted today that if the Soviet Union continued thei pace ofl its missile buildup it! could have- '2,500 long-range | missiles by 1975. The United' States now has 1,054, and doesi not plan to increase the force in the next five-years, r .... "Based upon the best information available to me as Secretary of Defense," he said,,"I must conclude that the Soviet Union has the capability- of achieving by the mid-ninete'e'iv seventies a superiority over the presently authorized and pro;' gramed- forces of the Unites States in • all' areas'— offensive strategic forces, defensive _ forces and conventional forces." In. a speech, prepared /for a meeting of the United/Press' International Florida /News-j paper Editors Association in Panama City, Fla„ and/released: here, Mr. Laird used his gloomy i projection of a growing poten-, tial threat to -underscore his* plea for the Administration's Safeguard antimissile "program.j ; 'Minimal Step Nefce'ssary'' • "The Safeguard System :& the j minimal step necessary at this time to ensure" that' the.'bsafety. and security ^of- the' American; •people"' will be'preserved'if arms limitations talks are not successful in the'coming months and years," K <-itd. ..The proposed $6-billion to $7 billion .Safeguard program is encountering determined opposi1 tion in Congress. Many argue, Mr.,Laird said, that Russia will not maintain its present level of defense activity. But such arguments are based primarily on guesswork, he said. . . "This could lead to a major and irretrievable miscalculation if our judgment on intentions proves faulty," he declared. Publication Assumption Called False By way of example, he said that last year the "dominant official assumption" by the Johnson Administration . was that. Russia "by now would have begun to slow down and halt the expansion of its I.C.B.M. [intercontinental ballistic missile] force." "That assumption proved false," he said. At present, Mr. Laird said, the Soviet Union has .1,000.longrange missiles in "hardened," or protected, silos and 140 older missiles' sitting on launching pads. The United States has 1,054 intercontinental missiles. Although he did not say so, It was apparent' that hJs proContinued'on Page 17, Column 4 .T.he..New...York..T.imes. While multiple warheads planned for United States missiles would swing the nuclear arithmetic back into the American column, he noted, .the Russians are working hard on multiple warheads and may be able to - match the United States qualitative improvements. "Most of us still remember vividly a moment of supreme national peril in 1962," he said. "It was widely assumed then that the Soviet Union would never install offensive missiles in Cuba, and this presumption prevailed right up to the time that photographic evidence proved it wrong." "As Secretary of Defense," he continued, "I do not intend for this country to go through that kind of crisis again, but if we must, I intend to see that the United States is in a position to meet .such a crisis successfully." J LAIRD SAYS SOVIET CAN LEAD IN AR1 Continued From Page 1, Col. 6 jection assumed that the Russians would continue into the middle of the next decade their present deployment rate of about 250 long-range missiles a year. In the late nineteen-fifties and continuing into the 1960 Presidential race, some argued that if the Russians built longrange missiles as fast as the United States believed they were capable of doing, the United States would quickly and dangerously fall behind. Later, U-2 reconnaissance photos iShowed that <the Russians had actually built only a small number of missiles. Delay Called Risky Mr. Laird attempted to head off a line of argument based on this by asserting that since it takes five years or more; before a defensive system to answer a potential offensive threat becomes operational, the United States could not afford to delay deploying Safeguard. "We cannot gamble on estimates of Soviet intentions," he declared. "If the Soviet Union is developing a capability that could endanger this nation, we must be prepared to counteract it." The Defense Secretary said that the Russians had built seven Polaris-type submarines,armed with 16 missiles each, and that if they continued their current production pace they could outstrip the United States, which has 41 Polaris submarines, by the mid-nineteen-1'eventies. _ _ . 000236 �( o Hsclosjed u n | ^ r jtfre tytfcss tinformati tn Act \formation u Il g S^Docurr(e^lJvu gu i e e n v e r t u d e l a Loi sur Tacces a Tinformat. D E P A R T M E N T OF E X T E R N A L A F F A I RS Subject. Date ..&Mk A.E>ril..26, 1.969 Publication Jackson and Cooper in Dispute \ Over Delay in Missile Defense By JOHN W. FINNEY The two leading Senate pro- that is "opportunistic, unpretagonists in the missile defense dictable and dangerous," Senadebate clashed yesterday over tor Jackson said, it is only "pruwhether the United States dent" to take steps to defend could afford to delay deploy- the nation's nuclear deterrent. ment of the Safeguard -System Furthermore, he argued, dewhile it sought an arms con- ployment of Safeguard would trol agreement with the Soviet strengthen' the American barUnion. gaining hand in strategic arms Senator Henry M. Jackson limitation talks with the Soviet Democrat of Washington, ar- Union. ,gued that it was essential the In rebuttal, Senator Cooper, , United States take immediate a-member of the Foreign Rela< steps to defend the Minuteman tions Committee, contended | missile force if it was to pre that the appraisal that the So'serve the credibility of its nu- viet Union- was acquiring a clear deterrent in the mid-nine "first strike" capability rested on these questionable assump;teen-seventies. i- Senator John Sherman Coop tion's: er, Republican of Kentucky, fThat the Soviet Union will who started the antiballistic- continue' its missile deployment missile debate in the Senate' at the same rate as it has since just a year ago, contended that 1962, It may be, he said, that the United States could .risk the Soviet Union is only seekdelay for a year or so while ing "parity" with the United it sought some way to halt an States. «IThatthe Soviet Union could "inexorable arms race which so synchronize its attack on may become irreversible." The two Senators debated United States land, sea and air before a luncheon meeting of nuclear forces that all retaliathe Foreign Policy Association tory strength would be deattended by about 500 people. stroyed. "I have heard no exIt marked the first time that pert in Government or outside the two sides had joined, the who believes this would occur," issue this year in public de- he said: bate, and the confrontation «IThat the United States came in the Imperial Ballroom would not have time : to in of the Americana Hotel rather crease its deterrent strength to than on the Senate floor. meet a Soviet threat, should the Soviet Union continue its Preview of Senate Fight present rate' of deployment of What they had to say, how- offensive and defensive misever, was a preview of the de- siles. He contended the United bate that will break out in the States, would have time to take Senate when legislation is of- precautionary steps. fered authorizing deployment But the "larger issue," he of the Safeguard System re- said, is that for a "brief moquested by the Nixon Admin ment" the United States may istration. have the opportunity to take The basic difference that the initiative to halt the nuemerged in the debate — one clear arms race. If the United that is certain to dominate the States deploys Safeguard, he Senate controversy — involved said, it "will undoubtedly be the question of whether or not countered with matching action the Soviet Union, by its recent by the Soviet Union. build-up in offensive strategic strength, was threatening the "The thing that concerns me American ability to retaliate. the most, he added, "is the futility the young people must Senator Jackson, a member feel as they look forward and of the Armed Services Com- say, 'Must we always live unmittee, maintained that "the der the shadow of this arms credibility of our deterrent is threatened" by Soviet develop- race?'" ment of missile defense systems and by its "steady deployment" of large SS-9 intercontinental missiles. "The hard truth is.that, by the mid-nineteen-seventies, unless we continue to make appropriate decisions to meet technological change, the viability of a large part of our second-strike force will be put ^n question," he declaredJ T he.J?v, York Times Threat to Minuteman The Soviet threat is primarily against the Minuteman' intercontinental missiles, which would be defended by Safeguard. However, Senator Jackson reintroduced the argument, first made a month ago by Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird, that the deterrent capa bility of the Polaris submarine force was in jeopardy. In view of Soviet development of atomic attack submarines, he said, the "credibility" of the Polaris deterrent "certainly will be in doubt" in 197476. . , Since the 'United States is confronted with an opponent S\ Dirksen Promises Fight WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI)—The Senate Republican leader, Everett McKiniey Dirksen of Illinois, ruled out today any possibility of a compromise on Safeguard and promised an all-out fight to win approval. Senator Dirksen and the Democratic leader, Mike Mansfield of Montana, said they had heard nothing official about a possible agreement in which missile deployment would be suspended by the Soviet Union 'and the United States pending ;arms limitation talks. ,'E But Senator Mansfield, in •? statement,' said he felt the Russ i a n s would accept an arms moratorium. He said "a number of Soviet diplomatic probes over the past several months" suggested "a readiness to go .forward on an arms limitation or freeze." Despite indications that Safeguard would be rejected by the Senate if there were a vote now, Senator Dirksen said he was confident Congress would back. President Nixon in the end. 000237 �Document disclosed knde$M\&flccetsitoJjifofiriation Document divulgue enfverttfae/la Lot sur Tacces a Tinfo\ % DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS >>' * Subject Date / &£M..k A p r i l . . 2 6 , 1.9.69 Publication The...Globe.& Mail Russians will have superiority by mid-1970s, Laird asserts PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) J- U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird said last night the Soviet Union could seize superiority over the United States in all military fields by the mid-1970s. The defense chief said he has gauged the Soviets' past .and present levels of technological accomplishment in his three months in office. "Based on this formula and upon the best information available to me as secretary • of defense, I must conclude that the Soviet Union has the capability of achievingbythe mid-1970s a superiority over the presently authorized and programmed forces of the .United States in all areas—offensive strategic forces, defensive strategic forces and ',: conventional forces." ' Mr. Laird's warning came . in a speech supporting the Nixon Administration's proposal to build the Safeguard I-anti-ballistic missile defense ; mainly as a means of defendi n g U.S. missile bases against •Soviet attack. \ "We cannot gamble on estimates of Soviet intentions," ;;Mr. Laird said. "If the Soviet /Union is developing a capabili t y that could endanger this ^nation, we must be prepared . :'to counteract it." ' The Defense S e c r e t a r y , noted that he has been criti• cized for taking a hard-line '.view of the Soviet Union, but . he said he must base military ; planning on a potential ene• my's capabilities, not inten• tions. Mr. Laird said that in the past two years the Soviet, Union has more than tripled its force of intercontinental ballistic missiles" to 900 from 250, and this year will have more than the United States' 1,054 land-based weapons. "Based on the Soviet Union's level of activity in recent years . . . they have the capability of achieving by the 1974-1975 time frame a force of 2,500 ICBMs in hard silos . . .," he said. In the way of defensive weapons, U.S. intelligence predicts that the Soviet Union "can deploy anywhere from 200 to 2,000 ABM .missiles by the- mid-1970s," Mr. Laird said. • The S a f e g u a r d system which Mr. Laird endorses would begin by defending two Air Force Minuteman missile fields in the northern United States. It is understood this initial defense would involve deployment of about 400 defensive weapons. Mr. Laird's spoke to a meeting of the Florida Unipress Association? As he has in the past, Mr. Laird warned of Soviet de- ployment of about 200 large SS-9 missiles which he said are capable of carrying a single warhead of up to 25 megatons or three warheads in the five-megaton range. Mr. Laird said the United States has a superior force of intercontinental bombers, a total of 549, but he said the Soviets are spending about twice as much yearly as the United States for bomber defenses. Estimating the Soviet challenge to U.S. conventional forces involves more variables, Mr. Laird said. But he predicted that by 1974 or 1975, based on authorized peacetime manning levels, the Soviets will probably have a superiority in ground forces of roughly three men to the United States' two. He projected that the Soviets could ha^g several hundred more tactical aircraft than the United States by mid-1970. And the Soviets, he said, "already have approximately four times as many submarines as we have.' yA 'y 000238 � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDBM00237 Title A name given to the resource Transcript from NYT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 4/26/1969 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG25-A-3-c, file 27-11-7, "DEFENCE - CONVENTIONAL AND NUCLEAR ARMAMENTS - ANTI - BALLISTIC MISSILES (ABM) = DEFENSE - ARMEMENTS DE TYPE CLASSIQUE ET NUCLEAIRE - ENGINS ANTIMISSILES (ABM)," vol. 10357, part 6, Library and Archives Canada, (LAC). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource External Affairs Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Anti-ballistic missiles Description An account of the resource Laird Says Soviet Can Lead by 2 to 1 in Missiles by '75 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en