Both of the major combatants are secretive regarding many of their weapons, as to number, size and capability. The Russians boast that they have bigger weapons; the Americans, that theirs are more accurate. The U.S. is said to have over three times as many long-range bombers as the Russians​—496 to 140.

On the other hand, the Russians have more missile-equipped submarines. But U.S. submarines are claimed to be quieter and harder to detect, and many of the missiles they carry have ten to fourteen warheads. Since the mid-1950’s the Soviet Union has outbuilt the U.S. in naval vessels. It now has 221 major surface combat vessels compared to 174 for the U.S.

Currently much research and development by both nations concentrates on missiles. But have not the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and other agreements served to stop missile construction between these two powers? No. SALT has primarily outlawed defensive missiles. But what about offensive missiles?

The U.S. was allowed 1,054 land-based missile launchers and 656 sea-based launchers under terms of the May 1972 SALT agreement. The Soviet Union was permitted 1,618 land-based launchers if it built up to 950 sea-based ones. Why were the Russians allowed a majority? Because the U.S. thought it had a clear advantage in the field of missiles with MIRV.

MIRV stands for ‘multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle’; one missile has a number of warheads, each of which can be focused on a different target once the missile is in a general area. The U.S. is said to have already about 7,000 mounted MIRVs.

Nerve gases are currently a center of debate in the U.S. One variety, binary nerve gas, consists of two chemical agents that are safe when kept separate. However, once mixed, as in a fired artillery shell, they become deadly. U.S. chemical-weapons experts Julian Perry Robinson and Mathew S. Meselson told a House subcommittee that the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons is four times as large as it was at the close of World War II.

The U.S. Department of Defense admits that it has stockpiled a billion dollars’ worth of weapons to turn over to its Asian allies in South Korea, Thailand and South Vietnam in the event of future war involving those nations.

[Chart on page 4]

“PEACETIME” ARSENALS GROW

U.S. U.S.S.R.

1,710 MISSILE LAUNCHERS 2,358

(land- and sea-based)

7,000+ NUCLEAR WARHEADS 2,300

496 LONG-RANGE BOMBERS 140

41 NUCLEAR SUBMARINES 42

174 SURFACE COMBAT SHIPS 221