Bush Acts to Cut Nuclear Arms : Short-Range Weapons in Europe Will Go : Disarmament: President’s blueprint eliminates multiple-warhead systems and sharply reduces arsenals. Plans for newest mobile ICBM will be abandoned.

President Bush announced Friday night that his Administration will immediately withdraw short-range nuclear weapons from Europe and abandon its support for a mobile intercontinental missile as the first steps of a sweeping plan to curtail the 42-year-old U.S.-Soviet nuclear rivalry.

Bush disclosed the moves in a rare Oval Office address in which he outlined a blueprint for a post-Cold War world in which nuclear arsenals would be dramatically reduced and dangerous multiple-warhead systems would be eliminated altogether.

Under the plan, the President said, the world could move away from the constant crisis state of previous superpower relations. “We can now take steps to make the world a less dangerous place than ever before in the nuclear age,” Bush said.

The proposals outlined by Bush will stand down or dismantle more than half of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including all long-range bombers, some long-range missiles, all weapons aboard Navy surface ships and the ground-based theater weapons designed for use in defending against a Soviet invasion of Europe.

And he outlined a vision of a new, more stable nuclear balance in which each side would agree from now on to build only a single kind of less-destructive, ground-based missile.

Bush said the United States is prepared to take many of the proposed steps unilaterally, but he called on the Soviet Union to “go down the road with us” by matching the cuts. Without further cooperation, he warned, a “historic opportunity will have been lost.”

He said he spoke with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin and expected a “positive” response. From his vacation home in Sochi on the Black Sea, Yeltsin said the initiative calls for the Soviet Union to take “substantial and adequate measures” in return.

Bush’s initiative comes as the rapid dissolution of the Soviet Union has raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet arsenal while its democratic tenor has made Moscow more willing than ever to accept deep cuts in the number of its nuclear weapons.

With leaders in Moscow and other capitals also hungry for Western aid, Bush seemed to leave no doubt his new proposal would be a key element in a grand bargain in which the United States could win security guarantees in return for massive economic assistance.

“Their task is far from easy and far from over,” Bush said of Soviet efforts to reform the disintegrating Communist structure. “They will need our help, and they will get it.”

Democratic leaders quickly applauded the Bush move. But they complained it is overdue and still too limited.

In detailing his vision of a world in which the Soviet Union no longer poses a direct threat, Bush appeared determined to use his status as leader of the lone superpower to force the pace of change toward an era in which nuclear weapons no longer play so prominent a role.

“The United States has always stood where duty required us to stand,” Bush said in his nationally televised address. “Now let them say that we led where destiny required to us to lead--to a more peaceful, hopeful future.”

Bush said the United States will immediately withdraw all its ground-launched theater nuclear weapons--an action that would destroy nearly 4,000 artillery shells and short-range warheads in what he called “the most sweeping change in nuclear forces in over 40 years.”

At the same time, he said, his Administration will cancel plans to build a new short-range nuclear attack missile, remove all tactical nuclear weapons from Navy ships and submarines and stand down from alert status its entire fleet of strategic bombers.

Bush said he also will immediately remove from alert status the almost 1,800 U.S. long-range missile warheads that are to be dismantled within seven years under the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed by the two countries earlier this year.

Instead, he suggested that the U.S.-Soviet emphasis in a world changing at “a fantastic pace” ought now to be on military systems to defend against ballistic missile attack--perhaps no longer by the other side but by a new common enemy.

As a means to hasten the downgrading of offensive capability, Bush said that if the Soviet Union is willing to cooperate, he is prepared to move far faster than required under the START accord to bring about the 30% reduction in long-range nuclear arsenals that it requires.

And in an even more sweeping proposal, he urged that the United States and the Soviet Union “seek early agreement” to eliminate altogether their existing inventories of long-range ballistic missiles with multiple warheads.

The plan would overhaul or consign to the scrap heap the multiple-warhead missiles that now are most central to the two nations’ nuclear arsenals, including America’s MX and Minuteman III and the Soviet Union’s SS-18 and SS-24 missiles.

Because they are highly destructive and also vulnerable to attack, silo-based missiles have since their introduction in the 1970s been regarded as the most destabilizing elements in the U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenals. Mobile missiles present problems in counting and verification. Modifying or eliminating them “would take away the single most unstable part of our nuclear arsenals,” Bush said.

In place of the multi-warhead missiles, the Bush plan calls for each country to limit its strategic weapons modernization efforts to only one type of single-warhead missile. The United States would focus its effort on the Midgetman missile currently in development.

The outlines of the plan had been closely held by Bush’s closest advisers. Administration officials said it had taken shape in recent weeks as a result of discussions between the President, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney.

Bush said he received “valuable counsel” from his closest allies, including British Prime Minister John Major, French President Francois Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. White House aides said he presented the plan to Gorbachev and Yeltsin in telephone conversations Friday morning.

While Bush proposed a genuine overhaul of the nation’s nuclear stance, the solutions he outlined lay largely within an orthodox framework. Far from calling for nuclear weapons to be abolished, he made clear that he thinks it necessary to leave intact the “strategic triad” in which such weapons are deployed on land, in the air and at sea.

Among those weapons not immediately affected by the plan are more than 7,000 warheads loaded aboard missiles secreted in silos in the central United States and in submarines prowling beneath the sea.

And while ground-based tactical nuclear weapons are to be withdrawn from Europe, Bush said he would make no such cuts in the U.S. force of 60 bombers whose nuclear capability he said remains “essential” to the security of the Western alliance.

At the same time, while the exact number is uncertain, it appeared that more than half of the 10,000 warheads affected by the plan would, at least for now, simply be removed from alert status and placed in storage facilities to be retrieved in time of crisis.

“We can make radical changes in the nuclear postures of both sides to make them smaller, safer and more stable,” Bush said. “But the United States must maintain modern nuclear forces . . . and thus ensure the credibility of our deterrent.”

Indeed, while calling for the cutbacks, the President made clear that his Administration will continue to fight for the costly B-2 Stealth bomber and the Strategic Defense Initiative, and he warned against expectations that the plan would free defense funds for domestic needs.

“Some will say these initiatives call for a budget windfall for domestic programs,” Bush said. “But the peace dividend I seek is not measured in dollars but in greater security.”

Rather than provide an opportunity for defense spending cuts beyond the five-year, 25% reduction already proposed by his Administration, he said: “In the near term, some of these steps may even cost us money.”

One of the potentially most costly aspects of the new spending contemplated by the Bush plan is the proposal calling on the United States and the Soviet Union to build new non-nuclear, anti-ballistic missile defenses. Bush indicated that the United States intends to share technology with Moscow to assist the Soviet effort in a cooperative venture he said could mark the beginning of efforts to confront “a growing threat to world peace” that was demonstrated by Iraq’s Scud missile attacks during the Persian Gulf War.

Bush’s willingness to spend even more on defense is certain to provoke a fierce debate as Democrats call for even more drastic cuts to free up money for the domestic programs likely to be the focus of the coming political campaign.

But Bush appealed instead to Moscow with the lure of a dramatic dividend as he suggested that cooperation could help relieve its pressing economic troubles.

Times staff writers Melissa Healy in Washington and Michael Parks in Moscow contributed to this article.

IMPACT ON SOUTHLAND JOBS: Bush’s proposal could shake the defense industry. D1

Eliminating Nuclear Weapons

President Bush’s announcement of dramatic reductions in U.S. tactical nuclear weapons was a call for Moscow to make a matching gesture. ON THE LAND

Bush ordered elimination of all land-based nuclear weapons in Western Europe. About 700 warheads on short-range Lance missiles and more than 1,000 nuclear artillery shells on longer-range missiles would be dismantled and destroyed. ON THE SEA

The nuclear-tipped Tomahawk and others missiles will be removed from surface warships and attack submarines. Many of these will be destroyed and the remainder would be placed in secure central storage areas. United States has advantage in this area now. IN THE AIR

Strategic bombers will be ordered removed from day-to-day alert status. Nuclear weapons will be withdrawn from land-based naval aircraft.

Changing Nuclear Forces

CUTS THAT BUSH ANNOUNCED:

Short-range nuclear arms: Eliminate all land-based weapons. About 700 warheads, deployed on short-range Lance missiles, and more than 1,000 nuclear artillery shells are in Western Europe. The U.S. arsenal would be dismantled and destroyed.

Cruise missiles: The nuclear-tipped Tomahawk and others will be removed from surface warships and attack submarines. Many of these will be destroyed and the remainder would be placed in secure central storage areas. United States has advantage in this area now.

Strategic bombers: Will be removed from day-to-day, round-the-clock alert status.

ICBMs: U.S. will immediately stand down from alert all U.S. ICBMs scheduled for deactivation under START. The advanced Minuteman III system affected.

MX: Cancels work on mobile Peacekeeper ICBM, which the Senate had already voted down; move should save $600 million.

Strategic Command: Bush announced creation of a new Strategic Command designed to improve command and control of all U.S. strategic nuclear forces. WHAT BUSH WANTS THE SOVIETS TO DO:

Short- and medium-range nuclear weapons: Bush called on Soviets to withdraw, dismantle and destroy all their ground-launched theater nuclear weapons, nuclear warheads for their short-range ballistic missiles, nuclear air defense missiles, nuclear artillery shells and nuclear land mines.

Soviet mobile ICBMs: Bush has asked the Soviets to confine these missiles to their garrisons.

ICBMs: Bush asked the Soviets to immediately stand down from alert all their ICBMs scheduled to be scrapped under START.

Naval nukes: Bush asked the Soviets to remove all tactical nuclear weapons from ships and attack submarines. WHAT BUSH SPARED:

Aircraft: The United States will maintain aircraft with nuclear weapons in Europe.

ICBMs: Continue to modernize the small single warhead ICBM.

Bombers: The B-2

Star Wars: The Strategic Defense Initiative was spared. WHAT BUSH WANTS TO NEGOTIATE:

ICBMs: Negotiate the elimination of ICBMs with multiple warheads from U.S. and Soviet arsenals.

ABMs: Limited deployment of non-nuclear defenses to protect against a nuclear strikes.

Other: Cooperation on storage, physical security and command structure for nuclear warheads.

Nuclear Weapons on the Battlefield

Tactical nuclear weapons are designed for direct combat with enemy forces. In contrast, “theater” or “strategic” weapons are designed for over-the-horizon use to reach rear areas of the battlefield. The yield, or explosive equivalent, of these weapons ranges from less than a 10th of a kiloton to about 50 kilotons (a kiloton is equal to 1,000 tons of TNT). The nuclear bombs dropped on Japan in World War II had a yield of about 20 kilotons. ARTILLERY SHELLS

The smallest tactical nuclear device available is the W48 warhead, which has an estimated yield of 0.1 kiloton. Artillery shells can be delivered with a high degree of precision. The shells have range of about 12 to 20 miles. MISSILES

The Lance system has a variety of nuclear warheads, varying in yield from 1-100 kilotons. Its range is about 80 miles. The missile can also carry conventional high explosives. Lance development began in 1962; the first battalion was deployed in 1972.

Source: Modern Land Combat; How to Make War; The Military Balance, 1990-91