SOVIET TECHNOLOGY SPEEDUP DETAILED IN PENTAGON REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100190005-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 28, 2011
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: March 26, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100190005-9 STAT
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WASHINGTON TIMES
26 March 1986
Soviet technology speedup
detailed in Pentagon report
By Walter Andrews
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
U.S. intelligence projects that a
Soviet s eedu of nuclear modern-
ization, which ecame apparent to.
the U.S. militar in the last year, will
result in re acement o most of te
Soviet an - ased ICBM force over
the next eca e t e Pentagon re
ported yesterday.. Such a move may
possibly violate arms control
agreements, the report said.
The fifth edition of Soviet Mili-
tary Power, an annual Pentagon re-
port, also emphasizes the important
role pirated U.S. technology has
played in the development of new
Soviet weapons, particularly inter-
ceptor aircraft and cruise missiles.
The report underscores the So-
viet lead in weapons for chemical
warfare and those employing laser
beams, which an official said
achieved a limited operational cap-
ability against low-orbiting U.S. sat-
ellites in the last year. The report
also notes Soviet advances in missile
defense technology.
"By the mid-1990s, the Soviet
ICBM force will have been almost
entirely replaced with new systems,
a number of which may violate SALT
II [ 1979 agreement] constraints," the
Pentagon said in its new 1S6-page
report.
"Based on current trends, our
projections for the '90s give us no
reason to feel that we can rest in our
effort to prevent the Soviets from
achieving a very significant, ex-
ploitable military advantage," De-
fense Secretary Caspar Weinberger
said in a press conference introduc-
ing the new report.
A senior Pentagon official, who
briefed reporters on condition he re-
main unidentified, said the two most
significant Soviet developments in
the last year were the deployment of
70 mobile single-warhead SS-25
ICBMs and the flight test of the new
larger, 10-warhead SS-X-24 missile
('X' stands for experimental).
The senior official also said the
Soviets are emphasizing Stealth
technology, which makes weapons
virtually invisible to radar by
building them with non-metallic ma-
terials that do not reflect radar
beams. He said the Soviets are be-
lieved to be developing ICBM war-
heads and cruise missiles using this
technology. The United States has
been thought to have a substantial
lead in this area, with production of
a Stealth fighter and development of
a Stealth bomber.
The report said deployment of the
first SS-X-24 could begin late this
year. In addition, it said the Soviets
are developing two, and possibly
three, new land-based ICBMs.
A new missile to replace the 308
giant SS-18 10-warhead missiles,
which it is estimated can destroy up
to 80 percent of the 1,000 deployed
U.S. Minuteman missiles, is in ad-
vanced development and is nearing
the flight-test stage, the report said.
Another missile "that may be
larger than the SS-X-24 will begin
flight testing in the next few years;'
the report said. Both of these mis-
siles are likely to have greater accu-
racy and throw weight (the ability to
hurl nuclear warheads from one
continent to another) than their pre-
decessors, the report said.
The report said "a third possible
development" is a multiple-warhead
version of the SS-25 that would be
ready later this decade.
It noted that the Soviets already
have deployed four Typhoon missile
submarines, the world's largest sub,
and probably have three or four ad-
ditional vessels under construction.
Each sub can launch 20 advanced
SS-N-20 missiles, which have a
range of 8,300 kilometers, the report
said.
The Pentagon document also said
a new ground-launched Soviet
cruise missile, dubbed the SSC-X-4,
"will probably become operational
this year." Cruise missiles fly close
to ground, unlike ballistic missiles
that orbit through space to their tar-
gets.
The new cruise missile will be
able to hit all the targets in Europe
currently in reach of the SS-20
intermediate-range ballistic missile,
the senior official said.
He said the expected deployment
of this missile may explain the re-
cent Soviet willingness to negotiate
away its currently deployed 441
SS-20s in exchange for the American
Pershing II ballistic missiles and
cruise missiles now being deployed
in Europe.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100190005-9