SYSTEM 'VITAL' . . .

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000707360006-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: May 30, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707360006-4
11, E
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30 flay 1980
in.
6, 1
U V ri e a !s
1.1
S. L. oelib-erg
and we now have to overhaul some
of the earlier models. A new missile
is justified to keep maintenance-and
support costs low in the;uture.
The article on the NIX missile sys- Dr. Zatuchni suggests that if a
tem ("At whom is :;le 2.i.Y point- missije can flee to a shelter in a few
ed?") by Dr. Stephen.B. Zatuchni on
April Z was so replete with errors of
fact and comprehension that I feel minutes.. an airplane certainly' can
obligated to help straighten out the tbo, thereby-'Implying endorsement
record of an airbasing concept. With a bit of
It would i e interesting to know reflection he. might have realized
how Dr..ZaWchr&bas ,-cncluded that that the shelters Into which the mis-
it. is.cbesper, easier and faster to sile can move are- several hundred
deploy more missiles and warheads" times as resistant to nuclear blast as
civil 20 build MX shelters. In reality, the airplanes, so an airplane has.to
1 t further to be safe This con.
we xuki poor concrete and pile up
dirG:to gild' more shelters cheaper
than, and. just as fast as, the Soviets
could build missiles and warheads -
their highest technology products:
'It is astonishing. is deed; to learn
from Dr. ZatuchniOat th
lieves.te? soviets could rapidly e-
wifneads. Inc
a LAA ex-
wit, think such a move
would dramatically curtsi their
overall military prog-~arr_, destroy
ihPir vital c!~nuclear power pro-
gram e fnn nnc ear mater
als, force cancellation of their for-
e!gn nut ear power re at commit-
ments, and in- general have serious
adverse a era on their entireecono.
M. By contrast, MX will cost about
one halt of 1 percent of the total fed-
eral budget over the years it takes to
deploy (completion in 1989). This is a
small price to- pay to strengthen a
vital element of our strategic forces
.which provide security for the free
,world.
Dr. Zatuchni says MX may cost as
much as Z50 billion. He must have
his own inflation projections. If he
tells me how much a Chevrolet will
coni.in 1988,1 will tell him how much
MX will cost in that year. Our real
estimate is about 333 billion in 1980
dollars, which is about 80 percent of
the amount we have spent on our
Minuteman missile force, 65 percent
goa o
sideratlon plus the large number of
new * air bases implied -lead to the
conclusion that airplane basing of
MX would be 50 to 100 percent more
expensive than land basing. This re'.
suit was publicized last year when
we completed our design study.
The idea of small diesel- powered
submarines has been worked on
since about 1967 and still looks poor.
My office has recently published?.a.
summary of the current information.
How Dr. Zatuchni thinks a diesel
powered sub, visibly snorkeling five
hours a day, will be secure 13-a mys-1
tery to me. Our fleet of, missile
launching submarines is a vital part
of our deterrent, but it would be dan-
gerous to concentrate too large- a
fraction of our eggs in that basket.1
Even if we did want more missiles at
sea, the effective and economical
way to get them - there is to build
more of the long range, capable Tri-
dent submarines, . not incapable
mini-subs patrolling In coastal wa-
ters (which would then become a
rich hunting ground for Soviet anti-i
submarine forces). .
Dr. Zatuch_ni* is terribly concerned
that the location of the MX missiles!
can he detected by what he states to I
be present U.S. reconnaissance ca-1
pabilities. He must sleep uneasily,
indeed, if he believes that those re-!
sponsiblefor his defense are sofatu-
ous that it wouldn't occur to them to
test MX against our own detectior.I
capabilittes,'for which they are also
of what we have spent 'on our--B-52-
bomber fleet, oe about 80 percent of
what we have spent on our Polaris/
Poseidon nuclear missile-carrying
submarine force. responsible. Simple concrete wr:gnts i
Dr. Zatuchni apparently believes it and various elet ozonic black-boxes
would be cheaper to rebase Minute- will be used to keep the transporters: I
man in MX shelters than to build and shelters always loaded to the
new missiles. In fact, a smaller mis. same weight, sending out appropri- !
sile like Minuteman would require a ate emissions, and solve the problem
large number of shelters to insure which bothers him.
survival of the number of warheads ' (S. L. Zeiberg is deputy under sec.
needed to meet our deterrence objec- retary, Strategic and Space Sys-
tives. A large missile, providing for terns, Department of Defense.)
the economy of large scale, is away
to save money in the system. Be-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707360006-4