Word: mx
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...affiliated research group developed theguidance systems for the MX and cruise missilesand is presently working on the Trident IIsubmarine-based ballistic missile. It also hasdeveloped the software for the on-board computersand the autopilot mechanism for the spaceshuttles
...President's rhetoric was hardly new. He used the same "bargaining chip" argument to win funding for the controversial MX missile. Increasingly, however, Congressmen are fixated on the bottom line. Though Reagan spoke of seeking only "modest 3% annual growth," in fact his budget request for 1987 calls for a hike of at least 12% over 1986 spending, from $278.4 billion to $311.6 billion. Furthermore, the Congressional Budget Office calculated that the President's defense budget underestimates its true cost by $14.5 billion. Most Congressmen believe that in the end the President will be lucky to hold next year...
...original goal was to build a missile that could survive a Soviet attack in sufficient numbers to pose a credible threat of retaliation. The big, three-warhead Minuteman is vulnerable to destruction in its silos. The ten- warhead MX is no answer. Though it was supposed to be mobile, the Pentagon could never come up with an acceptable basing mode. The 50 MX's that Congress has agreed to fund are to be parked in Minuteman silos, where they too could be sitting ducks...
...Pentagon, upset at not getting the 100 big MX missiles that it originally requested, is bridling at the cost of Midgetman--perhaps $44 billion eventually. Defense officials and congressional allies contend that the expense could be cut in half by building 170 "Super-Midgetman" missiles, each weighing 90,000 lbs. and carrying three warheads, which would still be mobile. That would defeat the purpose, cry Midgetman boosters. Reducing the number of launchers, making them larger and therefore harder to move quickly, and putting more warheads on each would make the entire arsenal more vulnerable to surprise attack. A secret report...
Further muddying the debate, is that some advocates of increasing the Midgetman's size actually do not want the missile but hope to divert funds to the MX. Amid the confused crossfire, Washington is in danger of losing sight of the basic strategic issue involved: a small mobile missile can help make America's land-based arsenal more secure while at the same time making the nuclear balance more stable...