European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                J j clash Over . Nuclear Arsena flow much is enough a the 75 new radar eluding stealth or b-2, bombers that the administration Hopes to build would give the United states a weapon that can penetrate the soviet unions air defences which Are not limited by arms accords. By Michael r. Gordon new York times the Bush administrations plans to buy costly new Long Range nuclear weapons Are being challenged by a growing number of military experts and members of Congress. They say the United states has a Chance to save tens of billions of dollars by slowing the purchases and seeking an agreement with the soviet Union to reduce nuclear arsenals drastically. The Pentagon says it needs to deploy More accurate and less vulnerable weapons to better deter a soviet attack for decades to come. Asserting that the nature of soviet leadership cannot be predicted the Pentagon seeks scores of billions of dollars for newer weapons in each leg of the strategic triad bombers land based ballistic missiles and submarine launched ballistic missiles. A what i see is a nuclear superpower in the soviet Union with absolutely no pulling Back on nuclear strategic capability Quot said Gen. Colin l. Powell the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. A if we have the triad and ail those legs continue to have value then i believe that they must be  All the new weapons Are permitted under a nearly completed agreement on Long Range or strategic arms hat would Cut each superpower s nuclear Arsenal by roughly 30 percent. Each Side now has 11,000 to 13,000 strategic nuclear weapons. Many critics of current administration military planning say cuts called for by the treaty do not go far enough they say the administration should set bolder goals that take into account Moscow s stated willingness to seek even deeper cuts. Harold Brown president Jimmy Carter s defense Secretary has proposed that the two superpowers negotiate by the mid-1990s a new Accord that would slash missile warheads and bombs on each Side to 3,000, which would enable the United states to save even More the treaty emerging from the strategic arms reductions talks or Quot Start talks Quot would halve the number of soviet ballistic missile warheads and Moscow s Force of a heavy Quot ss-18 missiles considered the most threatening weapon in the russian Arsenal. The Start-1 treaty is being negotiated in Geneva. The Bush administration says it is prepared to negotiate a subsequent agreement but much of Washington a thinking about Start-2 remains in flux. As the red army leaves Eastern Europe the Pentagon has begun reviewing the number and types of targets that would be struck in a nuclear War. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney recently told Congress Quot to the extent that you used to be concerned about targeting military targets in the Warsaw pact and the old Warsaw pact goes away you be got new  nonetheless administration officials including Cheney and the National Security adviser Brent scowcroft have expressed scepticism about very deep cuts. Scowcroft has Long argued that reductions in nuclear weapons Are not necessarily Good and that the important thing is to reduce the vulnerability of weapons in each Side s Arsenal. The administration for example has proposed that a Start-2 Accord ban one Type of weapon a land based missiles with multiple warheads. But it has not said whether such an agreement should Lead to much smaller nuclear forces on both sides. Some former Pentagon officials say that by proceeding apace with its weapons plans before establishing future arms control objectives the defense department has put the cart before the horse. And facing a growing budget deficit congressional critics like sen. Joseph r. Biden of Delaware chairman p the Senate foreign relations subcommittee on european affairs have called for a fundamental revaluation of potential targets of nuclear strikes but guesting that it could Lead to a much reduced number of weapons the administration s plans for new strategic weapons were first conceived in earlier administrations when american soviet relations were tense and the soviet military was entrenched in Eastern Europe. . Officials say that despite the soviet unions withdrawal of conventional forces from Europe its nuclear Arsenal is modern and intact. Spending on strategic weapons accounts for Only about 15 to 20 percent of the Overall military budget. But the total Cost of following through with the Pentagon s strategic weapons plans Over the next 10 years would still be sizable about $100 billion in today s dollars a a tidy sum for buying new conventional weapons or making a Down payment on reducing the growing Federal deficit. This sum does not count the Energy department s sizable Cost of making warheads spending for command and control systems or Money spent on developing a Star wars anti missile system among other items. The Pentagon is now spending about $4 billion a year on the anti missile plan and has projected a threefold increase a spending proposal certain to be rejected by Congress. At the heart of the spending debate Are two questions in a climate of eased relations with Moscow How much should the United states spend to make its nuclear weapons less vulnerable to attack reducing the already slight risk of a nuclear War and for the Long term How Many weapons will be enough to deter a soviet strike the debate centers on three Basic approaches. Under the administration s approach the United states would develop new air based sea based and land based weapons to meet a need for highly accurate weapons capable of destroying a wide array of soviet military targets and command centers. Central to this approach is the View that each leg of the triad should be Able to survive independently. By building costly new Mobile land based missiles that can elude attack the administration is hedging against soviet breakthroughs in anti submarine warfare that could jeopardize the sea leg of the United states triad. At the same time spending billions for new Trident submarines and the highly accurate missiles they Are to carry is aimed at providing the sea based Force with the ability to threaten a Broad variety of soviet military targets. The 75 new radar eluding stealth or b 2, bombers that the administration Hopes to build would also give the United states a weapon that can penetrate the soviet Union s considerable air defences which Are not limited by arms accords. The bombers would also carry 1,300 additional nuclear weapons that the air Force says it needs to carry out its ambitious War plan. Bush administration officials say that the new weapons Are needed to provide a modern Force for the next Century even if somewhat deeper cuts in arms Are achieved in a Start-2 treaty. Another Overall approach is favored by critics especially those like William w Kaufmann who want to Cut military spending by 50 percent Over the next decade. They advocate putting off deployment of nearly All the new strategic systems and pursuing research and development while pushing hard on arms control. In their View the destructive Power of nuclear weapons is so great that even a Small portion Lottie existing Arsenal is sufficient to cripple the soviet Union and therefore deter any soviet attack. If All the major new systems were halted according to a study by the congressional budget office even alter a Surprise attack the United Stales would still be Able to retaliate with about 2,900 warheads with Many times the Power of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. Many strategic experts tend toward a Middle View arguing that the Purchase of some new systems is necessary but that it should be at a slower rate. They note that nuclear weapons including Long Range strategic systems have Long been used to compensate for soviet advantages in conventional forces with the Retreat of soviet conventional forces from Europe and the disintegration of the Warsaw pact As an effective military Alliance deployment of new systems is less urgent James r. Schlesinger defense Secretary during the Nixon and Ford administrations told the Senate foreign relations committee in March. Sunday May 27, 1990 the stars and stripes a Page 17