Word: inf
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Since the first Soviet INF proposal of October, 1979 the USSR has tried to prevent or at least reduce the planned deployment of 572 American missiles in Europe. By trying to prevent or limit Undeployment of the U.S. missiles scheduled for basing in Europe the Soviets are trying to preserve the military and political significance of the Soviet INF threat to West Germany. The traditional Soviet preoccupation with Germany, and with the possibility of German reunification is evident in Soviet policies to ward other arms control and security issues in Europe...
Although the Soviets have sought to limit American INF deployments in Europe, they have never proposed reductions of British and French INF: 263 delivery vehicles consisting of 64 British missiles, 55 British bombers, 98 French missiles and 46 French bombers. Instead, the Soviets have publicly insisted since November. 1981 that the USSR be permitted to exclude from any Soviet-American INF agreement a Soviet INF arsenal equal to the combined total of British and French nuclear delivery vehicles...
Soviet spokesmen have publicly noted that the British and French are planning to increase the number of warheads on their missiles from the present total of about 300 to approximately 1300 by the end of the decade. This increase of nearly 1000 warheads is considerably more than the 572 INF warheads the US will add to its European nuclear forces if it proceeds with the deployment of the Pershing 11s and GLCMs...
...Soviets have not once objected to the British and French programs for increasing the number of their INF warheads. Nor have the Soviets ever invited the British and French to place their nuclear forces in an arms control forum Instead, the Soviets have declared on many occasions that the proper Soviet response to the planned increase in British and French INF weapons is a corresponding increase in Soviet INF weapons...
This was the gist of Andropov's proposal last December when he suggested that the NATO-Soviet balance of INF missiles consist of 162. British and French missiles (with no American missiles) and 162 Soviet SS-20 missiles. Andropov added that the Soviets were entitled to match future British French INF deployments with equivalent Soviet INF deployments. He also noted that the Soviet Union would insist on a balance of nuclear-capable aircraft against NATO aircraft (British, French and American as well) Last week, Andropov specifically proposed a numerical balance between the number of warheads of British French INF missiles...