Word: 18s
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Under the terms of the tentative accord, the Soviets agreed to retire within five years a significant portion of their large, hydra-headed ICBMs, including their notorious "heavy" SS-18s. Those are the most worrisome of the missiles in their arsenal, since they have the combination of accuracy, speed and destructive capability to carry out a sneak attack. Numerical reductions alone do not necessarily strengthen the nuclear peace. What is important about the outcome at Reykjavik is not so much the dramatic-sounding goal of a 50% cut across the board, which would probably prove illusory in a final agreement...
...that the Soviets could take very dangerous steps in short order if they no longer felt at all bound to SALT II. Among them: digging new silos for additional missiles, replacing single warhead missiles with MIRVed ones and adding more warheads to already MIRVed missiles like the mammoth SS-18s (that now hold 10 warheads in accordance with SALT...
...Cornell Coach Jack Writer said, "it was a good match between the 18s...
...result, American ICBMs are smaller and less numerous than the Soviets'. The mainstay of the U.S. ICBM force, 550 Minuteman IIIs, are classified as "light" ICBMs and have three warheads each, while the backbone of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces is made up of 308 "heavy" SS-18s, each able to carry ten warheads, and around 500 "medium" SS-17s and SS-19s, with four and six warheads respectively. The American MX, which is still under development as well as under heated debate, is about the size of the SS-19, but would have as many warheads...
...entire Soviet SS-18 force and many of the SS-19s and SS-17s as well, he argued, START would not achieve "our mandate from the President" on throw weight. As a compromise, the State Department agreed to "collateral restraints" on Soviet missiles that would cut the SS-18s and SS-19s by two-thirds and require elimination of the somewhat smaller SS-17s. The MX, however, would be virtually unconstrained...