Seeks Option for Land Missiles : Dukakis Vows to Support Array of Arms Programs

In his most detailed explanation of his defense policies, Democratic presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis pledged support Wednesday for an array of major weapons programs but failed to offer an alternative to proposed land-based strategic missile systems.

Dukakis committed himself to modernizing the land-based leg of the nation’s land, air and sea strategic nuclear triad. But he said the choice of which missile was best to replace the MX and Midgetman missiles, which he opposes, needs more study.

“So I’m going to work with the Congress to find a sensible, affordable way to maintain the effectiveness of the land-based missile leg of the triad,” he said.

Opposition to MX

Dukakis’ opposition to the MX and Midgetman is his single largest difference with Vice President George Bush on defense. Both men support continued research for “Star Wars,” although Dukakis would cut spending to pre-1983 levels of about $1 billion a year.

In contrast, Dukakis said, Bush is “busy debating himself” on the proposed missile defense shield. “One day he wants to speed up SDI, the next day he does not,” Dukakis said.

Dukakis slammed what he called “a new Republican triad . . . waste, duplication and fraud.” He said that Bush and his running mate, Sen. Dan Quayle of Indiana, “have opposed every single effort aimed at Pentagon reform.”

Dukakis aides said the speech at Georgetown University was designed to answer questions about his defense positions after weeks of relentless attacks by Republicans that the Massachusetts governor is “soft” on defense.

In response, Dukakis offered his most comprehensive, and most hawkish, account yet of which weapons systems he favors and which he opposes, and why.

Favors Trident Deployment

Dukakis said he favors deployment “as planned” of the Trident II submarine-based missile, the stealth bomber, the advanced cruise missile and the SSN-21 Sea Wolf attack submarine.

He reiterated his call for beefed-up conventional forces, including better training, pay and benefits for servicemen. He criticized Reagan Administration cuts in production of tanks and cutbacks in maintenance for jet fighters.

“We pay a price, not just in numbers but in security, for what Mr. Bush wants us to do,” Dukakis said. “To continue buying without planning, to continue writing blank checks to the Pentagon without setting priorities or making tough choices.”

Although Dukakis criticized the MX and Midgetman as too expensive, he did not offer an estimate of the cost of his conventional forces build-up.

“We haven’t priced it out,” said Robert Murray, a Harvard professor who advises Dukakis on defense. “It’s a question of priorities.”

‘They’re Overcommitted’

Murray said current Pentagon programs cannot be sustained, given that both sides agree the $300-billion defense budget will not grow in real terms. “They’re overcommitted and under-financed,” he said.

Dukakis appeared to soften his longstanding criticism of the Midgetman single-warhead missile system. “The strategic concept . . . is sound,” he said. “But I question the value of spending $40 or $50 billion for 500 additional land-based missile warheads--at three times the cost of the same number of new submarine-based warheads.”

He also expanded his explanation for his opposition to the MX missile. As designed now, the missiles would be stored in special roundhouses until needed, and then rolled out on special railroad cars. Critics say the rollout time makes the system vulnerable to a sneak attack.

“The MX, with its Pearl Harbor-style basing mode, isn’t the answer,” Dukakis said. “In those rail barns, it’s a sitting duck.”

Joseph S. Nye, another Harvard professor and defense adviser, said Dukakis would look instead at “six or eight” alternatives now under study in congressional committees. They include improving existing Minuteman missiles, hardening silos, adding warheads or instituting a kind of shell game to move missiles.

More Survivable

“These may turn out to be more survivable than rail-based missiles, and less expensive than the MX or Midgetman,” Nye said.

Nye said Republicans had distorted Dukakis’ defense positions. “I think he’s becoming more specific because of the hellacious attacks of the last few weeks,” he said.

Nye said the governor had five goals for his defense policy: cleaning up Pentagon fraud, maintaining a survivable nuclear deterrent, aggressive arms control, improving conventional forces and technology, and setting clear priorities.

Dukakis was accompanied by two congressional defense experts, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn of Georgia and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin of Wisconsin.

Dukakis conferred with both men and nine other congressional Democrats in Boston last Sunday before beginning a three-day series of detailed speeches on national security, U.S.-Soviet relations and defense.

Increasingly Bitter Tone

Dukakis traveled to Annapolis, Md., after the speech for a sun-drenched rally on the Statehouse lawn. The crowd of more than 1,000 presented a colorful array of new political signs, and at least two scuffles, in keeping with the campaign’s increasingly bitter tone.

One man’s sticker said, “A Quayle is nothing but a rich chicken,” while another waved a sign asking, “Where is Chicken George?” But foes held up signs saying, “He’s lying,” and “Dust the Duke.”

Dukakis ended the day with a press conference in Boston, where he announced “good news” for his state. Two months after his Administration grappled with an unexpected $446-million deficit, new figures show the state’s 1988 budget has a $67-million surplus.

“We don’t need voodoo economics here,” he said. “We’ve had enough the last eight years in the nation’s capital.”