30 Soviet Missile Inspectors Arrive for INF Treaty Checks

Thirty Soviet missile experts flew to California Monday en route to complete their first inspections of top-secret military sites in Colorado and Arizona under the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty.

Three 10-member teams of Soviet experts left Moscow aboard an IL-62 Soviet Aeroflot jetliner for the 16-hour flight to Travis Air Force Base, 45 miles east of San Francisco, said Lt. Col. Joe Wagovich, spokesman for the U.S. On-Site Inspection Agency.

Also aboard the flight were 15 Soviets who will replace some of the monitors permanently stationed at the Pershing 2 missile plant in Magna, Utah, operated by Hercules Aerospace Co.

The delegation was expected to stay overnight at Travis after their arrival late Monday, Master Sgt. Richard Castillo, a base spokesman, said.

Wagovich said the Soviets would finish up their “base line inspections” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson and Pueblo Army Depot in Colorado.

“They haven’t designated their sites. However, those are the only two sites left that they could inspect,” Wagovich said.

The Soviets have from four to 48 hours after their U.S. arrival to announce their inspection schedule, Wagovich said. U.S. officials then have nine hours to transport them to their locations.

Sept. 1 ends the first 60 days of base line inspections by Soviet and U.S. teams under the treaty. Part of the initial examinations is to count missiles so their later destruction can be monitored and verified.

About 70 Russian treaty inspectors toured half a dozen Air Force and Army missile storage, production and training sites in Arizona, California, Colorado and Utah last month when the INF treaty to abolish intermediate-range missiles went into effect.

U.S. experts conducted similar verification inspections, visiting a Pershing 2 and a Cruise missile base in West Germany.