New Nuclear Missile for Use in Europe Postponed by U.S.

With East-West tensions in decline, the Bush Administration is postponing indefinitely the development of new short-range nuclear missiles that were to be based in West Germany, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The 88 new launchers, 36 of which were to be controlled by the United States and the others by West Germany, Britain and the Netherlands, were to be targeted on East Germany. They would have been capable of launching about 1,600 missiles.

The tentative U.S. goal had been to begin deploying the missiles in 1995 to replace the current mixture of nuclear-armed and conventional Lance missiles with an all-nuclear force and an expanded range.

But East Germany is rapidly moving out of the Soviet orbit and preparing for union with West Germany. It is no longer perceived as a threat to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries.

The current arsenal of Lances will remain in West Germany. About 700 carry nuclear warheads and have a range of about 75 miles. The 900 or so non-nuclear missiles in the arsenal are designed to hit targets within 45 miles.

The new launchers were intended to have a range of about 280 miles, just below the level of intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which were banned in a U.S.-Soviet treaty in 1987.

Congress appropriated $32 million last year to develop the new Lance missiles. The Pentagon requested $112 million for this year.