Word: basinger
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WASHINGTON--The Senate Appropriations Committee voted yesterday to approve $988 million for production of the MX missile of the funds can be sent until Congress approves a basing plan for the nuclear weapon.
The proposal voted by the Appropriations Committee was sponsored by Sen Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), an opponent of the weapon who said the vote " the position of the Senate against the dense pack basing of the missile that Reagan favored.
Hollings amendment to a stopgap money bill would retain $988 million in the measure to buy the first five of the 100 planned missiles. But it also bars any use of the money until Congress approves a basing plan with no restriction on when that might be.
Missiles might not destroy a silo even if they hit it dead-on. Destroying the silo requires the combined explosive force of all of the missiles. But if one of them explodes first, the resulting blast will destroy or at least deflect all the others. This "fratricide" theory remains unproven...
Nonetheless there are ominous trends. While the U.S. is prone to lengthy, agonizing national debate over the acquisition of even one new strategic weapon, such as the MX, the Soviets are cranking out new, more powerful models-or "generations"-of missiles and honing their accuracy all the time. So there...