Naval arms control: Tons of options

Journal Article · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Arms Control Today; (United States)

OSTI ID:7166946

Durch, W J ^[1]

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1. Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, DC (United States)

Arms reductions have reached the US Navy, the most arms control averse of the US services, with budget-driven cuts in numbers of ships and personnel, and President Bush's unilateral withdrawal of tactical nuclear weapons. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's rejoinder not only replicated the Bush initiative for naval weapons, but also called for the destruction of all those weapons, many of which would simply be placed in secure storage ashore under Bush's approach. Can formal, negotiated naval arms control agreements be far behind Post-war history suggests that such naval arms agreements will remain out of reach. But post-war history has been confounded repeatedly by the events of the past three years. There are, in fact, negotiated naval limits that would enhance the predictability of US-Soviet military relations, and smooth the path of the naval retrenchment already underway on both sides. The Bush-Gorbachev reciprocal withdrawals of naval tactical nuclear arms deal with the most urgent and dangerous issue for naval arms control, improve the US Navy's survivability by drastically reducing the nuclear threat, and improve its flexibility by eliminating the security and political issues associated with carrying nuclear arms. It would be highly desirable, however, to formalize and verify these withdrawals, placing withdrawn weapons under jointly monitored, secure control, to preserve options for further cuts in the future.

• OSTI ID: 7166946
• Journal Information: Arms Control Today; (United States), Journal Name: Arms Control Today; (United States) Vol. 21:9; ISSN 0196-125X; ISSN ACOTEB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290600 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
350100* -- Arms Control-- Policy
Negotiations
& Legislation-- (1987-)
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ARMS CONTROL
ASIA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EUROPE
MILITARY STRATEGY
NATIONAL DEFENSE
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PLANNING
SHIPS
SUBMARINES
USA
USSR
WEAPONS