• Saying Peace While Readying for War
    Awake!—1974 | November 8

    • However, because of their advanced technologies and the size of the weapons, the arms race between the U.S. and Russia, particularly, disturbs the rest of the world. Who is ahead in this race?

      Who Is Winning?

      Opinions vary, even among supposed neutrals. 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. But even though the U.S. seemed to have an advantage when the SALT agreement was signed, that nation was in for a surprise.

      The Russians began testing their own MIRVs in 1973, prompting fears that the Soviets might overtake the U.S. But, then, the U.S. countered this action. How?

      By introducing MaRV​—the ‘maneuverable reentry vehicle.’ Like MIRV, a number of warheads can be attached to one missile and sent to separate targets. However, the MaRV warheads can be maneuvered to change course during the final part of their flight as they zero in on target.

      But the big powers are stocking more than their nuclear weapons. The nonnuclear variety is also proliferating. Recent smaller wars have educated both the East and the West about such arms.

      The Nonnuclear Race

      In Vietnam, for instance, the U.S. perfected cluster bombs, learning to control their fragmentation pattern. A single cluster bomb dropped from a jet fighter and detonated at an altitude of 600 feet was able effectively to disperse killing fragments over 900 meters (3,000 feet). One F-4 Phantom can include eight of such bombs and, with special racks, may carry as many as fifteen or twenty.

      Another weapon that was partially tested in Vietnam was the “glide bomb” or “smart bomb.” In the past, the flight of bombs from an aircraft has depended only on gravity. These newer models, however, are accurately targeted with the help of laser beams or TV. Even conservative experts speak of a coming “revolution” in warfare because of guided bombs.

      The Middle East war held some surprises for U.S. military experts. Russian-made weapons manned by the Arab nations proved far superior to what the Americans had anticipated. The Soviet-built portable SAM-7 missile launcher was effectively used to shoot down Israeli fighters. Yet, it is a comparatively inexpensive weapon.

      Much of the decisive warfare in the Middle East was armored combat​—tank warfare. But a single infantryman, it was also found, could knock out an enemy tank. A high explosive antitank projectile called “Heat” was used. It carries a quantity of copper metal. When the warhead explodes against the tank’s armor it releases a jet of molten copper that burns a hole through the steel and asphyxiates the crew, detonating any explosives on the vehicle. Some heat-warhead antitank projectiles are wire guided and so can be controlled on the way to their target by the soldier who fires them. The Israelis say that such weapons were the major source of their tank losses.

      Another surprise for the U.S. was the large amount and variety of night-fighting equipment supplied to the Arabs by the Russians. The Pentagon has now stepped up U.S. night-warfare research after finding that the Russians have perfected starlight scopes and infrared devices for tanks, antitank rockets and grenade launchers, as well as for lighter guns. Similar equipment was used by the U.S. Air Force and Navy in Vietnam.

      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.