Word: mx
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...press briefing at the White House, Reagan announced that he had decided to go ahead with production of both the MX missile and the B-1 bomber. Those much disputed weapons systems would be part of a $180 billion modernization of America's nuclear forces, a program that would upgrade all three legs of the nation's strategic triad of air, sea- and land-based nuclear weapons. With Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger at his side, Reagan said he plans to deploy at least 100 MX missiles, which are capable of traveling 8,000 miles and dropping their warheads...
...load the missiles onto a new, as yet undesigned generation of large, slow aircraft, dubbed "Big Bird," which would carry the MX aloft on permanent patrol and launch it in midair...
...perfect an antiballistic missile that would protect silos containing the MX by knocking out incoming enemy warheads...
...place the MX in extra-deep silos sunk into mountainsides, thus allowing the missile to survive a nuclear attack...
...basing options for the MX, Weinberger clearly favors the "Big Bird" alternative. But the plane is still a drawing-board fantasy, and it is doubtful whether enough could be built at a reasonable price by 1989, when all 100 MX missiles are scheduled to be completed. Perfecting an anti-ballistic missile to defend the MX raises a whole new range of hazards. An ABM system must be close to 100% effective to be worth building at all, and senior Defense officials admit that no technology exists to meet that exacting standard. In addition, an ABM system could not be deployed...