A Trio to Tax Any Negotiation

Intermediate-range nuclear missiles are understandably of more urgent concern to U.S. allies in Europe and to the Soviets than to the U.S. itself. Such missiles are designed to fly no more than 3,000 miles, which puts all U.S. territories except westernmost Alaska out of their range. Most Soviet citizens and every European, however, are vulnerable. To make intermediate-range missile negotiations even trickier, the bargaining that resumes this week in Geneva concerns reductions in a Soviet arsenal already in service, while the NATO missiles that might be cut are yet to be deployed.

There are principally three types of missiles under discussion in Geneva: one Soviet and two U.S. The Soviet missiles are probably targeted on military sites; similarly, the Western missiles would be aimed at the Soviet missiles and other military targets.

Soviet SS-20. The SS-20 is the biggest of the three (36 ft. tall, 5 ft. 6 in. in diameter). Unlike its Soviet liquid-fueled predecessors, which are considerably less accurate, the SS-20 is propelled by solid fuel. The main advantage: liquid fuel cannot be stored in a missile and the fueling process is slow. All U.S. missiles use solid fuel. The SS-20's range is long, up to 3,000 miles, and it is mobile, which makes it harder to find and destroy. Each has its own launcher, and Western intelligence experts suspect there is room for a second reload missile inside; the launcher runs under its own power on tank treads or tires. The missile is MIRVed, carrying three 150-kiloton warheads, each with its programmed target. The SS-20 is a replacement for the antiquated SS-4 and SS-5, which nevertheless remain deployed and are under negotiation in Geneva. The Soviets have deployed some 340 SS-20s in the past six years—a rate of more than one a week—scattered over 38 sites. Two-thirds are west of the Ural Mountains, pointing westward with at most a 20-min. flight to West Germany. Sums up a Bonn defense official: "There is no Soviet weapons system in its class that comes close to matching the SS-20." A compatriot in the Foreign Ministry agrees. "The SS-20," he says, "is a unique threat."