European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 7, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 4 the stars and stripes thursday september 7, 1967 defense department assess nuclear posture . Trying to make bombs without fallout editor s note this month Marks the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the race for the atomic bomb at a secret place in the ten Nessee Hills known As Oak Ridge. In the following Story the atomic Energy commis Sion and the defense depart ment assess America s pres ent nuclear posture. A by Frank Carey Washington a the United states is trying to develop pure fusion weapons that is Hydrogen bombs and missiles that would not require Ana bomb trigger and would therefore be free of radioactive fallout. The a Ion s nuclear weapon ears Are also still trying to develop the fearsome Neutron bomb which has been de scribed As a kind of death Ray weapon. This was related tuesday bythe atomic Energy commission in an unusually Frank discussion of american nuclear weapons posture Given in response to questions submitted by the associated press. The answers to the Quer ies in which the defense department collaborated with theace also brought out that 1. The United states has powerful and versatile stockpile of tens of thousands of individual nuclear weapons. 2. The stockpile includes such novel things As nuclear Antisubmarine rockets torpedoes and depth charges weapons that have had Little official mention. 3. The United states still hold san Overall Lead in nuclear weapons Over the soviet Union. 4. Red China apparently has a rational Well organized nuclear weapons development pro Gram and conceivably could launch an intercontinental bal Listic missile test vehicle before the end of this year. The questions and an Swers q. Can you give even a Gener Al  of the number of nuclear weapons both thermonuclear and no thermonuclear in the american stockpile a. Our weapons stockpile consists of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. Q. What can you say As to their Range of explosive yield As regards Kiloton age and or me Gaton nage a. Yields Range from sub Kilotons to Megatons. A Kiloton is the explosive equivalent of 1,000 tons of int a megaton is equal to 1 million tons q. What can you say As to their varietyi.e., in addition to bombs and missiles for exam ple do we have nuclear Artil Lery shells nuclear tipped torpedoes nuclear equipped Small arms nuclear depth charges nuclear tipped rockets As distinguished from intermediate and Longe Range missiles nuclear land mines or anything else 1 have not listed a. The United states has Artil Lery fired atomic projectiles atomic demolition munitions Antisubmarine rockets torpedoes depth charges strategic and tactical missiles and bombs. Q. What Progress is being made on advanced concepts of nuclear arms such As the of called Neutron bomb a. The dec is conducting re search on enhanced radiation weapons Neutron bombs. Such a device would be very  term very clean would mean a device in which Only Small amount of the Energy re leased would come from  blast effect would be very Small but the radiation effect from neutrons would be pre dominant. The dec also is con ducting research on pure fusion weapons. The status of pro Grams for developing such weapons is classified. Q. What s the american nuclear arms posture in compari son with that of the russians chairman Seaborg was quoted As Long ago As october 1961, assaying he had the impression that the United states was inthe Lead in the  a. The situation is still very much the same today. In aggregate that is Overall the United states still leads the so Viet Union. This is of course Avery Complex and complicated matter and any detailed com Parison would be difficult and not necessarily very meaning Ful. For several decades the .has maintained this nuclear weapons superiority. The maintenance of this superiority does not depend or Ever in creasing numbers of weapons or increasing stockpile yield but on continued improvements in weapons  Mcnamara on Jan. 23, 1967, before a joint session of the Senate armed services committee and the Senate sub committee on defense depart ment appropriations said Rasof now we have More than three times the number of inter Continental ballistic missiles i.e., icbms and slams than the soviets have. Even by the Early 1970s, we still expect to have a significant Lead Over the soviet Union in terms of num Bers and a very substantial superiority in terms of Over All combat  an slim is a sea launched ballistic missile q. What s the dec s rating of the achieved and potential strength of red China in the nuclear weapons Field the joint Senate House atomic committee in its recent appraisal said red China could be capable of launching a Hydro Gen missile attack on the United states before the mid-1970s, conceivably As Early as1970-1971. This appears to be a More ominous Outlook than that of defense Secretary Mcnamara who has estimated red China would not be Able to threaten this country with a significant number of icbms before themid-1970s. How does the dec feel about it since the dec with its expertise in fissionable material production and fabrication of them into weapons components might be in the Best position to make such an assessment a. The chinese nuclear tests to Date indicate a rational Well organized nuclear weapons development program. It must be concluded that they have Capa ble nuclear weapons designers and the technology is therefor available to carry out govern ment policies in designing an testing nuclear warheads. The conclusions of the join committee on atomic Energy on a timetable for development of a red chinese nuclear weapons system Are consistent wit the Jan. 23, 1967, statement of Secretary Mcnamara wit regard to an icbms we believe that the red chinese nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development programs Are being pursued with High priority. On the basis of recent Evi Dence it appears possible that they May conduct either a spacer a Long Range ballistic missile launching before the end of 1967.however, it appears unlikely that the chinese could deploy significant number of icbms before the mid-1970s, or that those icbms would have great reliability Speed of response or substantial Protection against  a launch of an icbms test vehicle by China this year would be necessary if they Are to meet the most rapid deployment schedules considered possible by both the committee and the defense department. After Chi a s first icbms is test fired there will be a period of testing and missile improvement. If the chinese then achieve a first operational icbms capability in the 1970-1972 period it is possible they will have a significant deployment in the mid-1970s. Q. What Progress has Bee made in further increasing the hardness of american nuclear missiles so As to decrease their vulnerability to destruction and or being rendered use less As weapons by enemy de lenses a. The continuing develop ment objective of improving the Castro faces new kind of trouble outbreaks of anti regime violence by Virginia Prewett Washington Nana Fidel Castro is facing a new kind of opposition on his own Island sporadic outbreaks of anti government violence unconnected with any outside or inside plot. Raul Castro in a broadcast last month told cubans that Cuba s Security forces in re cent months have had to Deal with "179 bands of bandits try ing to disrupt the Public  the cuban regime s no. 2man, Raul put the Cost of re pressing the outbreaks at from$500,000 to $800,000. He did not even pretend that the violence is created by the Cia. The United states has Long since intercepted cuban exile groups who used to make raids on Castro s Island for Tress. To meet the rising threat Cuba s dictatorial government has had. To create yet another repressive Force the fcb finer a Contra bandidos or counter Bandit Force to meet he Low Seething resistance that cannot be contained by the Security police the Armand the Block committees. Though Castro s propaganda machine has revealed that the Block committees no longer actas squads of local informants cuban exiles recently arrived in the United states say the Yare As Active As Ever. They were supplemented this Yearby yet another corps of inspectors who examine cubans Gar Bage cans to see if they Are eating More than their ration of food. Castro s biggest foreign affairs splashes plus the enormous Effort made this year Marketa Large Harvest of sugar have been reactions to increased resentment and desperation on the Home  example when Fidel Castro held his August meet ing of the Havana based league for subversion the latin Amer ican Solidarity organization delegates observers and press representatives from All Over the Western hemisphere crowded into  were wined and dined with both Staples and luxuries that the average cuban has not been Able to get for  newsmen Able to elude cuban officials if Only briefly reported discontent that appeared ready to break into something More Active. Penetration capability of Strate Gic missile warheads by fur ther decreasing warhead Vulner ability to nuclear environments generated by anti ballistic mis Siles has resulted in Modifica Tion programs for some War Heads in the stockpile. Nuclear tests have verified Laboratory computations and designs for achieving improvements inwardness. Q. Will you amplify on what hardness of a missile Means in terms of its ability to penetrate defences and How in general at least does missile defense system work a. Hardness is the ability of a weapon system to with stand anticipated environments. An anti ballistic missile sys tem is a set of missiles radars and warheads the purpose of which is to destroy incoming ballistic missiles. It May also include shelters. The Active part of the defense provides for intercepts that is destruction of incoming ballistic missiles and that destruction can occur a various altitudes. The problems Are to identify the incoming object which is usually a Small object from a few feet to a few tens of feet Long travelling at a very High velocity and then to provide for your defensive burst to get close enough to it to kill it. Q. Do we have missiles wit multiple warheads or if not Are we working on such a. Yes we have missiles wit multiple warheads. Q. Do we have Decoy mechanisms in our missiles what Are they and Aow would they redesigned to work a. We do have Decoy mechanisms in our missiles. We can not Tel you what they Are or How they work. Q. What can you say about lessons Learned from under ground nuclear weapons test ing a. As the underground test program has matured since september 1961, increasing technical engineering and diag Nostic knowledge has Bee gained which has expanded the scope of the experiments that can be conducted underground. Our underground nuclear test program is providing Many technical advancements previously thought unattainable without unrestricted testing. Q. How do you rate the unite states present ability to detect underground nuclear weapon tests excellent Good Satis factory poor please amplify. A. Our detection capability continues to improve but at the present time we do not wish tout a qualitative value on it. The and str Pes european edition Fidel Castro. Appeal fading col. James w. Campbell Usa editor in chief it. Col. F. S. Michael jr., Usan Deputy editor in chief Arnold Burnett. Managing editor Elmer o. Frank production manager Henry 8. Epstein circulation manager an unofficial newspaper of and for the . Armed forces printed Dally at Darmstadt Germany under the auspices of the office of the chief of Public Affa Lri he Usa eur. Military address the stars and stripes Apo 0917s. International mail the stars and stripes Postrach 1034, 61-Darmstadt, Germany. Tel Greet Helm c prefix 06155 2071 m Darmstadt air strip prefix 2376 741. New York off cel 641 Washington St new York 10014, Tel area code 212 620-5771. Second data postage paid at new York . ". The United states is an open society in which the people s right to know s cherished and guarded president Lyndon a Johnson