Soviets Scrap SS-20 Missiles in Flight Under INF Treaty
The Soviet Union has begun scrapping medium-range SS-20 missiles under the INF superpower treaty by launching them--without nuclear warheads--and burning them out in flight, Tass said Friday.
A senior Soviet officer said on Aug. 2 that Moscow was considering using the technique, allowed under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, rather than exploding the missiles or cutting them up, but this was the first official confirmation it had been used.
The official Soviet news agency said the launches, at Chita, east of Lake Baikal, were watched by a group of U.S. inspectors in an observation post about a mile and a half away.
Under the INF treaty signed by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and President Reagan last December, the Soviet Union must scrap 1,752 missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles. The United States will destroy about 800 missiles.
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