Modernizing of NATO A-Arms Gets Tepid OK : Endorsement Without Commitment to Deploy

NATO defense ministers on Thursday offered a lukewarm endorsement of the politically unpopular drive to update the alliance’s nuclear weapons in Europe.

While saying that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization intends to reduce its overall stockpile of nuclear weapons, the defense chiefs reaffirmed in a formal communique the desire to maintain “diversified, survivable and operationally flexible nuclear forces across the entire spectrum.”

The statement said that NATO plans to increase the range of ground- and air-launched missiles to compensate for the loss of medium-range missiles banned under the new Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union signed in 1987.

No Explicit Promise

The ministers, however, did not explicitly promise to deploy new nuclear-tipped missiles in West Germany because of intense domestic opposition to the weapons there. British and American officials had hoped for a stronger commitment to future deployment of the new weapons.

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said at the conclusion of the two-day meeting that West German objections to the new missiles had been vigorously aired.

“I’m not surprised that there are differences of opinion within the alliance,” he told reporters in an interview aboard his Air Force jet while returning to Washington on Thursday.

“In the face of Mr. Gorbachev’s very successful public relations activities and efforts to convey the notion that the Soviet threat is reduced, it’s not surprising there is a lot of ferment, political ferment on these issues in Europe.”

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has promised to unilaterally reduce Soviet military forces in Europe and has spoken of adopting a new defensive military posture. His statements have won broad public support among European populations that have lived for decades along a heavily armed border between East and West.

Gorbachev said recently that the first reductions--withdrawals of 10,000 men and 1,000 tanks from East Germany--will begin May 11.

Cheney has repeatedly expressed skepticism about Gorbachev’s moves and said Thursday that he wishes Europeans were not so swayed by the Soviet leader’s soothing words. But, he said, he intends to press his campaign to upgrade NATO forces while seeking negotiated reductions in arms talks with the Soviets.

There will always be conflicts within the alliance, he said, “but you have to play the ball where you find it.”

Cheney also said Thursday that he is “reasonably confident” that Congress will go along with his request for funds for the new weapons, despite NATO’s vague endorsement. Some lawmakers have complained that the United States should not commit hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and build new short-range missiles if the West Germans reject them.

Cheney has asked Congress for $150 million over the next two years to develop a replacement for the Lance missile now deployed in West Germany.

80-Mile Range

The Lance, which has a range of about 80 miles, will be obsolete by the mid-1990s, U.S. defense officials say. The United States must decide by 1991 or 1992 which missile system it will build to replace it, officials said.

As part of his campaign to sell the American missile modernization plan, Cheney also made public a description of Soviet efforts to improve their own short-range nuclear weapons.

According to the Pentagon summary of an extensive intelligence briefing given to the NATO ministers, the Soviets possess a 16 to 1 advantage over NATO in short-range nuclear missile launchers.

The report also says that the Soviets are replacing old Frog and Scud missiles and artillery shells with more accurate, longer-range weapons and are building a new nuclear air-to-surface rocket.