https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/27c315744efc9d7b7557c6c0b14583c9.pdf 75feea68d80845a864ba6ba6d4b23bb1 PDF Text Text Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur Tacces a Tinformation DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS fc / 1 8 Subject. Date XJ^/'l »•> July...2..>...196.9 Publication The,...Glp.be..&...Mail.. f Rapid buildup of Soviet Union's ICBM force would offset Safeguard, scientists argue ) WASHINGTON (AP) Three top scientists saidyes'• terday the Soviet Union could " offset .the effectiveness of the .; proposed ' Safeguard missile i defense system by rapidly in» ,' creasing its stockpile of inter- continental ballistic missiles. The latest salvo in the continuing dispute over the ABM system won immediate endorsement from Senator Edward Kennedy (D, Mass.), who called the scientists' re- bND DISARM. buttal to U.S. Secretary of De- stitute of Technology. Mr. fense Melvin Laird devastat- Wiesner was co-author of an anti-ABM book, commissioned ing. The authors of the report by Senator Kennedy, a leadare Jerome Wiesner, George ing opponent of the proposal. Rathjens and Steven Wein"Of particular significance berg of the Massachusetts In-;_ is the ease with which the SoE* viets could construct new VICBMs with the specific purpose of neutralizing the I A)3M," Senator Kennedy said. He said the Russians could produce effective counterweapons in three months. The report, issued in response to Mr. Laird's May 22 testimony before two House subcommittees, . concluded: "We find that Safeguard is ' ineffective as a defense Of Minuteman. Even with-perfect ABM performance,.*the'.'of-' fense could, by striking-first; . at our radars, keep the num= ber of TWinutemen (U.S.1 ICBMs) saved by'the'full Safeguard system down to 201 80. .,. ,., . ., . "This defense could be entirely offset by an increase in the Soviet SS-9 (ICBM) force from the figure of 420 projected by Secretary Laird by 1975 to less than 465 missiles." Safeguard, the scientists argued, "still seems to us to be ill-designed for defense of our deterrent... We still see Safeguard as a system looking for a convincing rationale. Each heroic defense that fails, , such as Mr. Laird's May 22 effort, reinforces our conviction that that rationale is not to be found." "It will take us five years," Senator Kennedy said, "until 1974,. to have the first two ABM sites (in North Dakota and Montana) finished , , . Yet in three months at most the Soviets could manufacture and deploy enough new missiles tq offset completely our . ABM. This hardly argues that the ABM is a wise expenditure." The three scientists urged two alternative solutions: "One is to wait until the threat of a Soviet first strike actually begins to materialize, and then increase our ICBM or SLBM (submarinelaunched) forces, which takes much less time than an ABM deployment. The other is to super-harden our ICBMs, which would be more effective than an ABM deployment even if Soviet ICBM accura- 0 0 2 2 cies improve to one-sixth of a °1 mile." � 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 CDBM00281 Title A name given to the resource Transcript from Globe and Mail Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 7/2/1969 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 Rapid buildup of Soviet Union's ICBM force would offset Safeguard, scientists argue 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