jrll@Portia.stanford.edu (john ralls) (07/17/89)
From: john ralls <jrll@Portia.stanford.edu> jwm@stdc.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) writes: >Ref: The recent proposal from the Soviets to eliminate ocean-based cruise missles. > >1. What is the differenc (treaty-wise) between antisurface missles and cruise > missles? > >2. Aside from on-site inspection of 100% of the platforms by inspectors with > screwdrivers, how could you hope to verify nuclear-equipped missle counts? I asssume you mean what is the difference between land attack and surface-ship attack cruise missiles. Since there isn't a treaty yet, there isn't really an answer. As for finding nukes, that's easy. Warheads aren't shielded because of the weight, so you just point a radiation detector at it. That still requires visits to platforms, but it could be done at random somehow to avoid monitoring all of them. For what it's worth, the US dislikes a ban on cruise missiles precisely because of the verification problem.