European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Rising doubts Over  ground base laser t a on Tow ground  la of Tel Honwyt to Pic h m a mtg turn Taireh locus m ten stir wort program Tow or by Octroi iter Nunly Liui ten move wit of to Fec on Thili Twig a Stu cancan Trithi a  inert could m theory it a not up through . He town nerf Ectyl off mtr Rori i Pitt and the it Cru Rutiri noun burning Power m   by David e. Sanger new York times a growing number of experts say they Are sceptical that even a mime nary system to shoo Clown attacking missiles could Bode Loyed effectively Wilhm the next decade As Iho Hagan administration is considering White Tho administration has Yel to provide details for what Inal Early defensive system would look like Pentagon of Licals and other of Perls say it would initially contain none of the lasers particle beam weapons of other i Lurissia weaponry that gave Rise to the Star wars Label the project office Aby known As the strategic defense initiative has acquired. Instead. The first phase would rely chiefly on Small homing rockets launched from the ground and from satellites that would do Elroy their targets with the Force of the Impact officials Call them kinetic Energy devices to distinguish them from beams or explosive weapons and on a network of yet to be developed sensors communication software and Bailie management systems double Over the feasibility of Quick development of such a system an growing ust us the administration is debating the Wisdom of Early deployment and grappling with How to avoid con licks with the 1972 anti ballistic missile treaty which limits defences against nuclear weapons. Pics Ideal Ronald Reagan has been meeting with senior  to discuss the conduct of the ski program and is relationship to the treaty officials said no decisions had been made to schedule tests that would in to Ond the Long accepted View of the trealy or to adopt a broader View of the agreement. In recent weeks both in Public Salem cols and classified briefings. Defense department officials have Insisi cd Hal tools show that Basic technology for picking Oul and intercepting nuclear missiles is workable and Well understood. Some outside experts agree that the Concrete Progress has been made but exp Eros say Pentagon officials have been vague when asked about the key engineering Challenge making both the weapons and the sensors Small Cost effective and reliable preliminary analysis of the plan the defense department officials Are circulating in Washington strongly suggests that a system of limited capabilities and modest Suzg. The Only kind suitable Tor deployment in the mid 1900s. Would be far More vulnerable to attack and countermeasures. I see problems being swept under the Rug in the my crests of getting consensus on Early deployment said Ash Ion b Carter a Harvard phys Icil and defense department consultant with extensive knowledge of the sys Lorn 11 May be possible to put 3 system like this in place bul it is not Clear that it would have any military value asst tiny the defensive potential of key elements of a partially deployed system is diff Cuil. Many elements of the plan eur entry being discussed Are vague and estimates d its effectiveness appear to be Nee with internal contradictions. Officials of the strategic defense initiative organization the government Agency coordinating the Effort declined to be interviewed on the technology. In a series of interviews with the now York times. Experts inside and outside the program have raised these key concerns about the Pentagon s plan in order to support their arguments for Early deployment. Ski officials appear to have lowered the performance requirements of key a Lemons of the system a key sensor device would be excluded from initial versions of a space based Rockel interceptor system with the Likely Rchull that More enemy warheads could get by it during the boost phase As attacking missiles lilt out of i hair silos according to experts briefed by Contr actors or the Pentagon similarly they say the ability of the a midcourse defense layer to discriminate Between decoys and real warheads would be sharply reduced from the original plan. But a spokesman Lor the strategic defense initial Iva said that to the Besl of his knowledge no sensor technologies have officially been eliminated in presenting the options Lor Early deployment to Reagan defense department officials Nave described promising technologies bul not a syts Lom architecture that would describe the Overall Structure feasibility and Cost of an Early deployment according to officials of the strategic defense initiative organization we Don t have an Early deployment architecture Deli nod Yel said Frank Stirling an aide to the ski direct Lor it. Gen. James a. Abrahamson at a recent conference in Colorado. Congressional critics say such a blueprint is critical if an informed decision is la be made advocates of Early deployment find themselves in a quandary Over How to describe the system on the one hand to sell the idea they Point out that the technology draws heavily on current proven rocket systems. But to avoid conflict with the abm treaty they must portray the technology As new and exalt a in order to proceed with testing under the Broad interpretation of the treaty. This is  a to test. Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday february 22,1987