Soviets Held Outspending U.S. on Strategic Defense

The Soviet Union has spent much more than the United States on developing a strategic nuclear defense and is laying the foundation for a rapidly deployable, nationwide anti-ballistic missile system, the CIA’s No. 2 official said Tuesday.

Robert M. Gates, deputy director of central intelligence, said the CIA estimates that, over the last 10 years, the Soviets have spent nearly $150 billion on strategic defense, almost 15 times what the United States has spent.

In remarks prepared for a foreign policy group in San Francisco, Gates said the Soviets have used the money to upgrade and expand the operational ballistic missile defense system installed around Moscow to the limits allowed by the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile, or ABM, treaty.

Have Major Components

In addition, he said, the Soviets are taking steps that would permit widespread deployment of anti-ballistic missiles and now have the major radar, launcher and other components for deployment “well in excess of ABM treaty limits.”

“Taken together, all of the Soviet Union’s ABM and ABM-related activities are more significant and more ominous than any one considered individually,” Gates said. “Cumulatively, they suggest that the U.S.S.R. may be preparing an ABM defense of its national territory.”

Gates offered his remarks as an argument for continued research and development of the “Star Wars” nuclear defense system proposed by President Reagan, formally called the Strategic Defense Initiative.

In addition to anti-ballistic missiles, Gates said, the Soviets have pursued advanced technologies for strategic defense. He said the Soviets have worked as long as the United States in laser, particle beam, kinetic energy and microwave technology, including research toward ground-based anti-satellite laser weapons and strong radio frequency signals that could interfere with the electronics of missile warheads.

‘Laying the Foundation’

“Limited though the current Soviet anti-ballistic missile system is, the Soviets are laying the foundation that will give them the option of a relatively rapidly deployable nationwide ABM system--a system that despite deficiencies would give the Soviets a significant unilateral advantage both politically and in time of war,” he said.

He said the Soviets were waging an intense propaganda campaign to dissuade the United States from pursuing its strategic defense research and “preserve the Soviet monopoly in defense against ballistic missiles.”