Atom Bomb Obsolete

A startling invention that probably has made the atom bomb obsolete has stalled the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) with the Soviet Union.

Not much has been said about it because American negotiators don't want to paint the Russians into a corner.  Too much publicity might make the Soviets stubborn.

The problem is this:

The United States has achieved a revolutionary breakthrough in a missile guidance system that is 100 percent accurate.

It is so accurate, in fact, that it is no longer necessary to blast our enemies with city-size atom bombs.  We can pin-point military targets and drop a conventional warhead down the chimney, literally.

The rocket designed to use this astounding guidance device is called the "Cruise Missile."  It is an air-breather in that it uses oxygen to burn fuel.  Thus, it flies at less than 250 feet altitude - well under enemy radar and air defense.

A target is selected by photography - high-flying spy planes or satellites - then programmed into the missile.  The cruise missile then flies 2,500 miles - around mountains and tall buildings - until it "sees" its target.  It then zeroes in at subsonic speed.

A high ranking defense official told U.S.  SALT negotiators recently that this weapon, fully exploited, could reverse the 25-year trend toward dependence on nuclear bombs.

"Who needs expensive, doomsday weapons when we can neutralize an enemy quicker and cheaper with cruise missiles," he said.

Within four or five years, the U.S. and our European allies, armed with cruise missiles, could wage a prolonged, non-nuclear war in response to a massive Soviet attack without being forced to turn to nuclear bombs.

The missile reaches its target by scanning the terrain below.  It is less than 20 feet long and weighs only one ton - a tiny package for such a big bang.

It is the versatility made possible by small size that makes the missile so feared by the Soviets.

It can be fired from an ordinary torpedo tube in a submarine or on the deck of a motor boat.  A modified Boeing 747 could launch as many as a hundred.

The new weapon poses a problem to SALT talks simply because there is no way to verify the number of missiles in stock once they are deployed.

This upsets the Russians who have reached or surpassed the United States in numbers of strategic weapons after enormous effort and expense.

The prospect of having to undertake a new massive arms effort at this time has Moscow climbing the wall.

The Soviets want us to ban the new weapon entirely - thus keeping us behind them.  Obviously the U.S. will not do this.

The Russian alternative is to limit the range of the missile and allow them to be carried only by conventional bomber planes.

This is the real reason for the Soviet Union's love-affair with detente.  It hopes to get by sweet talk what it has no power to insist on.

The big question - one which can not be answered until the present U.S. political campaign is over - is whether we should give up our new-found advantage and, if so, for what concessions by the Russians?

In my opinion we should forge ahead with production of the cruise missile at emergency speed.

Once we have an adequate stock of the cruise missiles deployed around the world we will be in a position to bargain effectively with the Soviets.

We know, and the world knows, we won't use our weapons for a first strike.  The USSR, however, has a long history of preemptive aggressions.

Once we are again in a power position we might consider GIVING the Soviet Union the plans for the cruise missile!

Before you hang me for treason consider that the Soviet spy system will have the plans for the cruise missile - if they don't already - before SALT talks conclude.

Eventually, both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. will reach cruise missile "parity."

Then the observation, "Who needs atom bombs," will apply equally to the two super powers.

With the ability to destroy selectively and completely, there would be no need for the mass-destruction strategic weapons which we all fear.

We would lose the deterrent of mutual fear, but the possibility of destroying the human race would be considerably lessened.

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