Weinberger Uses Photos, Charts to Tell NATO That Soviets Violate Arms Pacts

In a two-hour presentation of top-secret photographs, models, maps and charts, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger on Tuesday sought to convince his fellow NATO defense ministers that the Soviets have consistently violated existing arms control agreements.

He apparently made some headway, for several defense ministers said afterward that the evidence the United States marshaled was convincing. At the same time, however, there was a strong consensus in the discussion that followed Weinberger’s presentation that it was all the more important to press on with arms control measures that would be clearly verifiable.

Three weeks before President Reagan is due to meet Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Geneva, Weinberger gave his detailed briefing on Soviet arms pact violations at one of the regular semiannual meetings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Nuclear Planning Group.

Characterizing the response of the other ministers, a high NATO official who briefed reporters said that “nobody was asked to fill in a piece of paper saying, ‘Thank you very much,’ but the response was very positive.”

‘We Must Press Ahead’

West German Defense Minister Manfred Woerner told a news conference that “the detailed presentation convinced me that violations are not to be disputed.” But, he added, Weinberger’s remarks did not lead to the conclusion that “arms control is useless.” To the contrary, he said, “We must press ahead.”

Norwegian Defense Minister Anders Sjasstad said: “Before the meeting, I was doubtful about the dimensions of Soviet violations, but the material presented was convincing. There is no doubt at least on certain points that the Soviet Union is in violation of both the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the SALT II agreement.”

But Sjasstad added, “Because there are violations is no cause to stop negotiating.”

Weinberger is understood to have presented reconnaissance satellite photos that clearly establish that the Soviets have started deploying SS-25 missiles in violation of the 1979 SALT II treaty because it is a new missile rather than a modification of an older system.

Weinberger told the ministers that the SS-25 is 10% longer, 11% larger in diameter and has 92% more throw-weight than the SS-13. Moscow says it is a mere modification of the SS-13.

Radar Violation

The defense secretary also produced a model of the radar station still under construction at Krasnoyarsk, in central Siberia, that is described as being about as big as the Capitol building in Washington. The United States considers this a violation of the 1972 ABM treaty, which allows the deployment of large radars only on the periphery of each country, with their antennas facing out, so they cannot track incoming warheads and guide missiles to destroy them; the Krasnoyarsk station is in the interior.

NATO officials said the ministers did not discuss the Soviet offer to stop work on the Krasnoyarsk station, not due to be completed for three years, if the United States forgoes the modernization of early warning radars at Fylingdales, England, and at Thule, Greenland.

Finally, there was detailed evidence that the Soviets have concealed telemetry data from which experts can determine whether a missile is capable of carrying multiple warheads. The United States maintains that this, too, violates the ABM treaty.

All of these violations have been well publicized for months, if not years, in Washington, but this was the first time the full evidence has been laid out for other NATO defense ministries.

‘Star Wars’ Studies

In addition, Weinberger spoke extensively on the Soviet strategic defense program, stressing various aspects of the program that have been under way for several years but are only now being explored as part of the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, the space-based missile defense program commonly known as “Star Wars.”

After the meeting, Weinberger met with British Defense Secretary Michael Heseltine and made progress in clearing away further details of a memorandum of understanding for British participation in the “Star Wars” research program. The memorandum may be put in final form before the end of the defense ministers meeting today.