News

26 September 1997

TEXT: FACT SHEET ON SECOND AGREED STATEMENT ON ABM TREATY

(Issued after signing ceremony in New York 9/26) (820)



(The following fact sheet on the Second Agreed Statement of September
26, 1997, Relating to the ABM Treaty, was released by the State
Department in New York at the conclusion of the signing ceremony
September 26.)


September 26,1997



FACT SHEET



Second Agreed Statement of September 26, 1997, Relating to the ABM
Treaty


The Second Agreed Statement is also referred to as the Agreed
Statement relating to higher-velocity theater ballistic missile
defense (TMD) systems. Under this Agreed Statement, higher-velocity
TMD systems are those having interceptor missiles whose velocities
exceed 3.0 kilometers/second. This agreement codifies the provisions
of the Helsinki Summit Joint Statement, as agreed to by Presidents
Clinton and Yeltsin on March 21, 1997. Like the First Agreed
Statement, the Second Agreed Statement will enter into force
simultaneously with the Memorandum of Understanding on Succession
(MOUS).


Under the Second Agreed Statement, during tests of higher-velocity TMD
systems:


-- The velocity of the ballistic target-missile will not exceed 5.0
kilometers/second.


-- The range of the ballistic target-missile will not exceed 3,500
kilometers.


Apart from the limits on ballistic target-missile maximum velocity and
range, the higher-velocity TMD systems of the Parties must comply in
other respects with the provisions of Article VI(a) of the ABM Treaty.
Determining the Treaty compliance of a Party's own higher-velocity TMD
systems will remain the national responsibility of each Party. The
higher-velocity TMD agreement does not establish any velocity
limitations on TMD interceptor missiles and does not impose any other
restrictions on testing or deployment of such systems.


The U.S. Navy's Theater-Wide (formerly referred to as "Upper Tier")
TMD system is a system with an interceptor missile whose velocity is
likely to exceed 3.0 kilometers/second. As currently configured or
designed, Navy Theater-Wide has been certified ABM Treaty compliant by
the United States. Nothing contained in the Second Agreed Statement
itself would change the current U.S. compliance certification status
of the Navy Theater-Wide TMD system.


The Parties also agreed not to develop, test, or deploy space-based
TMD interceptor missiles or space-based components based on other
physical principles (OPP) such as lasers that are capable of
substituting for space-based TMD interceptor missiles. The ABM Treaty
prohibits the development, testing, and deployment of space-based ABM
systems. As a practical matter, distinguishing space-based ABM
interceptor missiles from space-based TMD interceptor missiles is
difficult if not impossible. Similar difficulties arise in
distinguishing between space-based components based on OPP capable of
substituting for ABM interceptor missiles and space-based components
based on OPP capable of substituting for TMD interceptor missiles. The
development, testing, and deployment of air-based, sea-based, and
land-based TMD or other non-ABM systems based on other physical
principles is not constrained or prohibited by either the Second, or
the First, Agreed Statement.


By agreement all higher-velocity TMD systems will be subject to the
Confidence-Building Measures Agreement (CBMA).


Further, to help increase transparency and build confidence in
compliance with Treaty obligations, additional documents have been
agreed upon which are associated with the Second Agreed Statement: (1)
a non-legally-binding unilateral statement of plans by each Party; and
(2) a Joint Statement on the annual exchange of information concerning
certain plans. The unilateral statement on plans issued by each Party
states that each Party has no plans to:


-- flight test a higher-velocity TMD interceptor missile against a
ballistic target-missile before April 1999;


-- develop TMD systems with interceptor missiles exceeding a velocity
of 5.5 kilometers/second for land-based and air-based TMD systems or
with interceptor missiles exceeding a velocity of 4.5
kilometers/second for sea-based TMD systems;


-- test TMD systems against ballistic target-missiles with multiple
independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs); or


-- test TMD systems against reentry vehicles deployed or planned to be
deployed on strategic ballistic missiles.


The Joint Statement obligates each Party to update annually the status
of its plans. Nothing in the Second Agreed Statement or the associated
Joint Statement limits the rights of a Party to change its plans.
Furthermore, the Parties agreed that a change in a Party's plans will
not undermine the legal standing or duration of the Second Agreed
Statement on higher-velocity TMD systems. If a Party's plans change,
the Joint Statement reiterates the obligation in Article XIII of the
ABM Treaty to discuss in the SCC questions or concerns raised by a
Party as well as possible proposals for increasing the viability of
the Treaty, which could include possible proposals to amend the Second
Agreed Statement. In order to modify or amend the Second Agreed
Statement, a consensus is required among all the Parties to the ABM
Treaty.