Word: midgetman
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...main group in the House, led by Aspin and Gore, favored de-MlRVing and Midgetman. Another group in the Senate, led by a Republican, William Cohen of Maine, and a Democrat, Sam Nunn of Georgia, advocated a so-called guaranteed mutual build-down, whereby each side would be required to retire more weapons than it deployed in its arsenal. The build-down was seen by its advocates as a moderate alternative to the freeze that was compatible with the Administration's stated goals of modernization in its defense program (i.e., developing new weapons like the MX) and dramatic reductions...
...April, after close consultation with key Congressmen, the Scowcroft commission issued a report recommending that the MX proceed as a short-term, stopgap measure, but that Midgetman be the principal ICBM of the future. The report recommended that the Administration, in order to make room for numerous Midgetman missiles, lift the 850-launcher ceiling that had been incorporated into the original START proposal at the behest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The report questioned the Administration's longstanding but widely contested claim that American ICBMs were already vulnerable to pre-emptive attack from the more numerous Soviet ICBMs...
...emptive attack. Thus, while START was in tended to enhance the case for the MX by increasing the ratio of warheads to launchers and by putting a premium on large MlRVed missiles, it inadvertently increased opposition to the big missile in Congress and instead spurred development of the "Midgetman": an entirely new ICBM, a small, single-warhead alternative to the large MlRVed...
LATELY, the single warhead Midgetman has come to the fore of strategic thought as a panacea in the land based missile dilemma. Small and mobile, it could not be struck and disarmed in one blow, however, its cost would be great and it could not be deployed until until the year 2000. Using the Midgetman philosophy, but applying it now, why not scrap all land based ICBMs and develop a system of only small potent cruise missiles...
Should a nuclear crisis over occur, the object would be to restore deterrence as quickly as possible before escalation. In the event of an attack on the U.S., rapid response ICBMs (Minuteman, MX. Midgetman) force the Soviets into a "use or lose" situation. Instead of forcing the Politburo into a 30-minute decision, the best method of retaliation might come from the very slow cruise missile which takes 4-12 hours to strike. In the meantime, communication and hopefully negotiation for restoring order could get underway. "We have sustained your attack and we have retaliated in the hope that...