DATE=6/9/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA WARNING
NUMBER=5-46472
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  The Presidents of the United States and Russia 
signed an agreement recently to share once-secret 
information about tracking missile launches and 
warheads.  A few years ago, sharing such sensitive 
military data would have been unthinkable.  But as V-
O-A's Jim Randle reports, some critics of the plan 
says it does not go far enough.


TEXT:  During the Cold War, both the United States and 
Russia built elaborate systems of spy satellites, 
radars, and computer networks to scan the skies for 
ballistic missiles and their deadly nuclear warheads.  
The U-S systems were pointed at the Soviet Union and 
the Soviet systems watched the Americas.

The new plan is for U-S forces and the Russian 
military to share some of this missile warning data in 
a specially equipped facility near Moscow.

The Americans will provide a computer screen with some 
information from the U-S global surveillance system, 
and the Russians will provide a separate 
screen with data from their sources.

The system is supposed to allow Russian and U-S 
military officers to see missile launches anywhere in 
the world that might affect either nation.

Pentagon officials say the idea is to give the two 
nations a quick way to resolve any misunderstandings 
and reduce the chance that a nuclear war would start 
by accident.

Missile expert John Pike of the Federation of American 
Scientists says there is good reason for concern.  He 
says a rocket launched near Russia to gather 
scientific data could have sparked a misguided and 
disastrous response from Moscow.

            /// Pike Act ///

      A few years ago there was a major malfunction in 
      their early warning system, for a few minutes 
      they mistakenly thought a scientific sounding 
      rocket was in fact a missile, nuclear-tipped, 
      headed in their direction.


            /// End Act ///

Senior U-S defense officials say it will take about a 
year to set up the elaborate joint missile warning 
system in a building once used as a kindergarten for 
children of Strategic Rocket Forces troops near 
Moscow.

It will take another three months to train a cadre of 
officers from both nations to be on watch 24 hours a 
day.

Meantime, many arms control experts, including Jack 
Mendelsohn of the Lawyers Alliance for World Security, 
say the Russian early warning system has deteriorated 
badly since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Only four satellites remain of more than a dozen that 
once watched the globe with their sensors.

Some vital radar stations that once protected the 
Soviet Union are now closed because they are on 
territory no longer controlled by Moscow.

Mr. Mendelsohn, a former U-S Foreign Service officer, 
says Moscow's military is blind and deaf for a much of 
each day.

            /// MENDELSOHN Act ///

      (all in all) I guess the estimate is they really 
      have early warning coverage of the United States 
      about a third to a half of the day.  Which is 
      really not adequate if you want to dispel 
      concerns about a potential adversary.

            /// End Act ///

Congressman Curt Weldon says the joint early warning 
center is a welcome step toward addressing these 
problems.

            /// Weldon Act ///

      That is definitely a step (direction) we want to 
      move.  And something I think would help provide 
      confidence on both sides.  So I support that 
      fully.

            /// End Act ///

Mr. Weldon is an outspoken critic of the Clinton 
Administration's foreign and military policies, which 
he says have thrown away an opportunity to build a 
stronger and safer relationship with Moscow.

Mr. Weldon says the two nations should do more than 
watch missile threats -- they should be able to stop 
them.

He is gathering experts from both nations to devise a 
joint plan for missile defenses.

/// Opt ///  Mr. Weldon is a strong supporter of U-S 
efforts to develop missile defenses, while officials 
in Moscow strongly protest such plans.  /// End Opt 
///

Meantime, the publisher of the Bulletin of The Atomic 
Scientists, Steven Schwartz, thinks Washington and 
Moscow could take simpler steps to reduce the risk of 
war.

He says they could start by changing procedures so it 
would take hours -- not minutes -- to launch nuclear-
armed missiles.

            /// Schwartz Act ///

      The solution is to eliminate the problem, and 
      not simply cover it up.  Which is what this 
      early warning center will essentially do.  
      Dealing with the problem and eliminating it 
      would mean taking nuclear weapons off of alert.

            /// End Act ///

These discussions come as the United States gets ready 
for a critical test of a proposed national missile 
defense in July.  President Clinton says that test 
will help him decide whether or not to build the N-M-D 
system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has missile defense 
ideas of his own.  He suggested a joint program with 
Europe to protect that area from missiles, but offered 
no details.   (Signed)

NEB/JR/JP




09-Jun-2000 14:42 PM EDT (09-Jun-2000 1842 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.