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U.S. Could Easily Deploy Conventionally Armed ICBMS, Official Says
The U.S. Defense Department could “in the very near term” arm U.S. ICBMs with conventional warheads, Defense Threat Reduction Agency Director Stephen Younger said last week (see GSN, Sept. 26, 2003). “We are able to generate those weapons today,” Younger said. “I’m not talking about 10-year development cycles. I’m talking 90 days,” he said. Some military officials have recommended the missile conversion concept, arguing that conventionally armed long-range missiles would give the United States the ability to strike enemies rapidly from a great distance. Such proposals, however, have come under fire from arms control advocates who have argued that such an approach would stretch or break arms control treaties, according to Defense Daily. There are also concerns that a U.S. launch of a conventionally armed ICBM could be misinterpreted by other nations as a nuclear attack, according to Defense Daily. Younger, however, discounted such concerns, saying they could be alleviated by communications and diplomacy. “Give us an 800 number,” Younger said. “We will call you up shortly after the launch. … This is not an insurmountable problem,” he said (Amy Butler, Defense Daily, Jan. 26).
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