SOVIET REPORTED BUILDING A VAST ANTIMISSILE SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300080012-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 10, 2006
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: December 8, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2006/10/10: CIA-RDP70B00338R000300080012-4
THE NEW YORK TIMES
'T'hursday, 8 December 1966
Soviet Reported Build .g
0 0 e
A Vast timis & & ySte
stressed since missiles present
the greater threat.
The Russians have paraded in
Moscow two different weapons
that they call antimissile mis-
siles. These weapons are gener-
Somo Unknowns ally referred to in the West by
Net Believed Nationwide But the analysts readily ad- their NATO code names, Grif-
By WILLIAM 31. BEECHER mit they do not know how of- 'fon and Galosh.
Of the two, American special-
special to The New York Times festive the over-all Soviet de- ists believe the larger one, the
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7-As ? fense may be or whether itI Galosh, probably is the key cle-
President Johnson ponders includes other types of missiles ment of the system now betn?
whether to deploy a costly Nike- or when- the full System may 1deployed. The solid fuel Galosh
has been tested, they say, but
X missile defense around the be functioning. there is scant information or.
United States, the American in The appraisal by these an-~ { its thrust, payload potential Or
telligence? community is poring alysts-of the Soviet-missile de-I range.
over ev scrap of information; fence will do more than simply "It's "certainly large enough
it can gather on what, precise- play a central role in the United so that it Could be every bit as
ly, the Russians are doing, in States decision on Nike-X. If good as our Zeus is or ever will
this field. the President decides against be," according to one source.
Despite reams of data from a go-ahead, the analysts' ap- The Nike-X system supple.
such intelligence sources as re- praisal also will figure prom- ments the Zeus, which has a
inently in the Congressional range of about 400 miles, with
connaissance satellites, the ex- debate that will "inevitably fo1- a shorter range, high accelera-
pcrts do not know precisely, low. tion sprint missile that is de-
said !
i
i
s
on
signed to intercept those mis-
what the Soviet Union is doing. The Nike-X quest
t Zeus.
to have occupied a large portion I siles that et But qualified sources say this g pas
is the current reading: of yesterday's defense budget The analysts do 'not know 1 1. ,the current missile tncillties meeting at the LBJ- Ranch in whether the Griffon constitutes
Texas. the second missile in a similar
are being constructed all over The Joint Chiefs of Staff area one-two Russian punch.
Russia, not just around Mos- on record as unanimously favor-.1 "Of course, the Galosh itself
cow and Leningrad. They are Ing immediate deployment of ' may well have a short range in-
being positioned. athwart nat- the Nike. Defense Sccretaryl tercept capability as well," says!
Robert S. McNamara, however, another analyst, ."Flow ood
Ural access avenues that Amer- is believed to remain uncon eppnds on its acceleration.'
ican land-based and sea-based winced' that a start must beIs the Soviet missile defense
missiles must traverse to attack made just yet, prefering instead better than the Nike-X7
key military and industrial tar- to devote additional funds to
improving the . capability of
gets. America's'strategic missiles so Some United Statesexperts
qThe defense is believed built that'. they can penetrate the doubt it.
around a long-range, solid fuel Russian defenses and thus per- "Although the Russians have
missile whose capabilities may has deter the Soviets from always been very defense-mind-
match or even exceed that of ever launching an attack. ed and have devoted a lot of
.American. specialists say
the Nike Zeusmissile; currently, there` is a vast amount of new =resources to, defense," says one
under advanced development:] activity at many of the thou- -pentagon official, "we've spent
Such a missile would attempt to sands - of Soviet antiaircraft more than $2-billion on develop-
achieve interception in space missile sites and at many new ment of Nike-X ? and we're con-
' sites as well. fident we know at least as much
hundreds of miles from the dc-1 ? The activity started in north- as they in this field. We can't
? fe$ided areas. West ? Russia, along an arc be sure, of course, but this is
The first elements of this so- guarding the principal path, our best judgment."'
that the Minuteman and Titan Ho
stexnWould Work
S
w
y
called area defense are expected! II missiles fired from the United)
to become operational within' States would travel in an attack. The Nike-X- system is de-
signed to'work this way: -
al targets in Russia.!
inci
t
1
p
on pr
the next 12 months. At tha
point, Russia will have a limit- The activity then spread to oth Long-range radars pick up
- or areas, including those that enemy missiles- shortly 'after
ed ing missiles. capability to The destroy United State incoms (Polaris" missiles would cross if
has no such defense, except on. fired from submarines In the
paper and in prototype equip Atlantic Ocean or the Mediter-
ment. i ranean Sea. -
Dual Capability
launching, and their flight paths
are carefully computed. When
they come within about 400
miles of the United States Nike
Zeus missiles are fired on an
intercept course.
Because large numbers of
enemy missiles might be fired,
some containing devices de.
signed to elude Zeus, super-fast
sprint missiles would be sent up
to engagd those missiles that
slipped through the outer de-
fense to within 50 miles or less
of their target. ?
. Both the Zeus and sprint mis-
siles would be launched from
!concrete and steel silos, some,,
what like Minuteman missiles.
A whole range of deploy-'
ments is possible, depending on
the degree of protection desired
and the cost to be shouldered.
In a price range of from $3-
billion to $8-billion, the system
would feature large numbers of
Zeus missiles positioned all
around the continental United
States with only a relatively
small number of sprint missiles]
defending key Oltics and pos.
sibly military systems such as;
the headquarters for the Stra.
tegic Air. Command in Omaha,
Neb.
Officials say such a light de-
fense would provide excellent
protection against any small at
tack, whether mounted by the
Red Chinese some years hence
or by the Russians in an acci-
dental or unauthorized launch.
Such a defense could be fully
constructed In six years or less,
technical specialists say. Also,
it could be expanded at any
time, by the addition of more
radars and missiles, to provide
a much tighter shield keyed to
handling an all-out Soviet mis-,
silo strike.
A tight defense might cost
anywhere from $20-billion to
$$0-billion. Even proponents
admit it 'could not guarantee,
that some Soviet missiles would
not get through, but it should
intercept a good many and thus
limit death. and damage in the
event of all-out war.
Because the early work was
concentrated at antiaircraft
sites, there was sonic specula-
tion in the intelligence commu-
lnity ;that the effort might have
merely been designed to improve
defenses against strategic:
bombers.
The consensus now Is that
the equipment going in doubt-
less will have dual capability,
against missiles and bombers.!
But it is thought likely that)
Approve ~orat 549b42 fi0/1t CIA-R DP70B00338R0O0300080012-4
 Approved For Release 2006/10/10: CIA-RDP70BOO338R000300080012-4:.
Space Shots Stir Cgncern
13YE'VERT CLARK
ar eclal to The New York Ttrne,
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7--Con?
fusion and concern over the
Soviet Union's space plans have
been increased here by three
recent launchings in which un-
usual secrecy played a part.
In two of thcise, the spare
craft exploded In orbit-ap-
parently accidentally, although
this was not certain. The third
Soviet launching, last week, had
some earmarks of a test flight
for a manned launching. But
It also was surrounded by con-
(using circumstances that all-
alysts here are still trying to
understand.
One reason for concern
among the experts here is a
feeling that the United States
is entering another period in
which It may be underestimat-
ing the Soviet Union's commit
ment to space exploration. This,
the dxperts 'sa.y, occurs period.
ically, particularly when there
is a long gap between Russian
manned flights.
It has now been 20 months
since the last Soviet astronauts
were sent aloft in the .two-roan'
flight by Voskhod 2 on
March 18, 1964. The Russians
have apparently not practiced
rendezvous and docking at
THE NEW YQRK TIMES, Thursday, 8 December 1966
'e twith manned Vehlcles-as
r rUnited States has In the
c ~GGemtni program.
C1 These two facts have been
'taken by sonic as an indication
that the Soviet Union intends
3-to skip manned lunar explora-
etiou and concentrate on manned,
"cai?th-orbiting space stations
`?'h.nci later manned flights to
Mars and Venus.
U.S. Lag Recalled
sa But the exhorts here recall
that there was a 22=month lag
,'between the end of America's
Mercury program and the first
manned Gemini flight.
While they discount that time
gap as an indication of Soviet
piaivi, they are -harder put to
explain why Russia does not
ippear to have tackled the ren-
Rlezvous problem, which is con-
Adored essential to American
Mans for lunar flights.
t Observers here have long ex-
eted a manned Russian flight,
otnents made privately by
SSoviet scientists to Americans
ht an International space meet-
;tng in Madrid in October indi-
rated that such a flight would
ome soon--possibly in late
anuary or early February.
S The Soviet scientists even
~okinnly told their American
gounterparts not to worry about
jaossiblc bud get cuts for the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Spaces
iAdministration because "We
vill help you out with that
shortly after the first of the
number of astronauts.
What 'United States observers
re in the'greatest doubt about
l,1 ow is the possible relationship
krtween the three recent Soviet
hots and the manned shot that
as been awaited for so long.
The first of these three
$aunchings was made last Sept.
7. It was a large vehicle, but
of nearly so large as the three
3-ton Proton vehicles that had
been put into orbit as probable
rerunners of a multiman
',space, bus."
ear."
This flight, if the Soviet hints
mean anything, would involve
three to six men. The experts
Ijere have thought for more
'Aran a year that the next Rus-
an flight would involve a
New Moves Observed
tral Kazakhstan usually used
for launching smaller Cosmos
satellites. It was also the first
tank that a satellite had been
launched from this base at an
inclination of 49 degrees to the
B7uator-an angle that pro-
'ndes maximum coverage for
4
'i connaissanco of the United
$tatcs.
"Russia did not even report
t 7e launching of the vehicle,
r~iuch less its mission, size and'
NIhcther any part of its was rc-
dbvered. Soon after launching
the vehicle was observed to
Irtteak into at least 80 pieces,
rxany of which are still in orbit.
w Confusion over the space-I
ca.ft's mission caused they
united States Government not l
t1 list it immediately in its pub-
36 catalog of space objects, the
S:-).tellite Situation Report.
ri On Nov. 2, most of these cir-
csmstances were repeated. A
]urge vehicle, launched from l
snnn broke into at least ~40
pieces. Russia did not .acknowl-
e,1?e -the launching and it was
~e"zitercd in the American catalog
ply after delay.
hh The third unusual launching ,
- e 11 T.T ..
28
.., -ced the snot, naming
the craft Cosmos 133, but it did
rfcrt disclose the angle of inclina-
tion, which is usually given for
Cosmos satellite.
It was the first spacecraft in,
111C months to fly at the alti-
'Nudes used for most Russian
manned flights. If Cosmos 133 11
ded
to carry men
-
rmething to rendezvous with a
'roton craft, perhaps--more
uninianned flights will probably
jfreeede a manned mission.
f Five test vehicles preceded
the first Vostok manned cap-
tles. Only one test flight each
Preceded the two Voskhod
1"lights, apparently -because
yokhod was a simple adapta-
l i'on of the already-proved Vos-
t" k.
ia The September and November
launchings may be tests pre-
dtFding now shots to Mars, since
mi opportunity to launch to
Oat planet occurs in the next
few weeks. Also they may have
ome military significance that
lists not yet been recognized, the
.,.,,.,...s,._
-
he
Approved For Release 2006/10/10: CIA-RDP70B00338R000300080012-4