Word: abm
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...problem is that the ABM treaty, as currently applied, prohibits testing or deploying antimissile systems in space. Weinberger has been leading the fight within the Administration for a "broader" interpretation of the treaty, which emphasizes an appendage that may allow the development of systems based on "physical principles" that were unknown when the treaty was written. The State Department agreed that this interpretation is "legally correct," but Secretary of State George Shultz has so far been able to prevent the Administration from abandoning the more restrictive reading that has been in force for 15 years...
...Nevertheless, Air Force Lieut. General James Abrahamson, SDI's director, argues that the $150 million demonstration proved it is feasible for a smart rock to locate a missile shrouded in its own exhaust plume and track other objects in space. Although he says Delta 180 fell within the strict ABM guidelines, SDI supporters argue that the broad interpretation is necessary to conduct the next such test, known as Delta...
...rocks in space, because they do not represent new or exotic physical principles. With the exception of a long- wavelength infrared sensor, the SBKKVs involve no technical breakthroughs, says John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists, and the land-based interceptors are merely upgraded, nonnuclear versions of the ABM systems developed during the 1960s. Says Democratic Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana: "The Delta 180 test demonstrated obsolete technology that is ineffective and vastly expensive...
...think it is in the interest of national security to shut down SDI. What we have offered is eminently sensible and in keeping with the ABM treaty. It allows us to do (space defense) work that the Soviets have been doing for many years." Yonas believes that limiting SDI to laboratory research for ten years would cripple the program. "There are major experiments planned for SDI that are necessary to evaluate its capabilities, and some of them cannot be done...
Gorbachev's offer to reduce the grossly inflated Soviet strategic forces by 50%, if genuine, represents a goal we have sought for more than a decade. To his predictable demand that the ABM treaty be strengthened, we should have responded by seriously addressing his legitimate concerns about the scope of SDI testing, rather than switching suddenly to a proposed elimination of all ballistic missiles...