U.S. Missiles Reportedly Sent to Rebels

The Reagan Administration, after hesitating for years to send sophisticated U.S. weapons to insurgent forces in the Third World, has begun supplying several hundred Stinger anti-aircraft missiles covertly to anti-Marxist rebels in Angola and Afghanistan, informed sources said Saturday.

The decision, which has been closely held among President Reagan’s national security affairs advisers since it was made earlier this month, marks a major shift in U.S. policy. Shipments of top-of-the-line American arms to such insurgents had been barred in favor of furnishing largely Soviet- and Chinese-made weapons bought on the international arms market or from U.S. allies.

The change in policy is certain to broaden involvement of the CIA in Third World conflicts and appears likely to escalate the fighting in Angola and Afghanistan, where Soviet helicopter gunships have inflicted heavy casualties on rebel forces in the past year.

U.S.-Soviet Rivalry

Opponents of the change long have argued that introduction of U.S.-made weapons into Third World conflicts transforms those struggles into U.S.-Soviet confrontations and deepens problems for neighboring countries trying to maintain a neutral diplomatic posture while providing a route for U.S.-backed arms shipments.

Introduction of such weapons also makes it more difficult for the U.S. government to maintain a posture of “plausible deniability” of its involvement in such conflicts.

A White House spokesman said the Administration had no comment on whether Stinger heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles have been provided to rebels in the two countries. Nor would he comment on reports that Stingers might also be sent to the U.S.-backed contras fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Over the past year, an interagency review of U.S. covert paramilitary operations concluded that Soviet-backed forces were employing more lethal weaponry and more aggressive tactics against moujahedeen rebels in Afghanistan and against the guerrilla army of Jonas Savimbi in Angola.

More Potent Than SAM-7

Rebels in both countries have met the increased air threat with Soviet-made, shoulder-fired SAM-7 missiles and have complained that their range--less than two miles--is not sufficient to thwart “stand-off” attacks by heavily armored Soviet gunships. The rebels also have complained about the reliability of Soviet SAM-7s, whose battery-driven electronics apparently are subject to frequent failure.

The Stinger, a portable, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile made by General Dynamics Corp. and supplied to only a few U.S. allies, is a far more lethal weapon. The Stinger has a range of up to five miles and employs a supercooled sensor to lock on to aircraft heat emissions. It is not easily fooled by decoy flares fired by Soviet helicopters to divert incoming missiles.

In a letter to Reagan last month, a group of conservative senators estimated that Stingers could improve the “kill” capabilities of rebel forces facing Soviet military aircraft by three to 10 times.

The Administration has been under pressure for months from conservative senators and political action groups to provide U.S. weapons to the anti-Communist insurgents. The CIA and State Department have been criticized by these groups for dragging their feet on measures that would improve combat capabilities of the insurgents.