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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, June 20, 1980
Page 11
for the first time to deliver nuclear warheads to any point in the Soviet
Union, not to mention Europe or the Western U.S. This point was not lost
on the Soviets, though their press studiously ignored the missile firings.
The Soviets are disturbed over nuclear developments on their western
flank as ,�·ell. They have been putting heiJ.VY pressure on the Western
European NATO powers, especially West Gerrnany, to refrain from deploying
572 intermediate-range "Pershing" nuclear missiles on European soil. These
missiles would take only six minutes to hit Soviet soil compared with 30
minutes for ICBMs coming over the �ole from the U.S.
Not to Moscow's liking either is the steady Ufgrading of France's nuclear
strike force--a �orce outside of NATO and U.S. control. The French nuclear
deterrent was substantially reinforced on May 23 when the first battery
of nine "S3" strategic missiles equipped with one megaton thermo-nuclear
warheads became operational. This brings the potential power of the
French deterrent, composed of five nuclear submarines, 50 Mirage 4
bombers, and the missiles on the Plateau d'Albion, up to a total strike
power of 75 megatons. A second battery of nine S3 missiles will become
operational before the end of 1982.
"The French Government," reports The Times of London on May 23rd, "has
also ordered studies in the productior1of a neutron bomb and a decision
on this is likely to be taken by the National Defense Council headed by
President Giscard d'Estaing in July. If it decides to go ahead (and the
Chiefs of Staff are favorable to the idea) the French forces could be
equipped with the neutron bomb within five years."
Meanwhile, the British are hotly debating whether to even stay in the
strategic nuclear business. The French are following the British debate
closely: "They would like nothing better," reports the L.A. Times, "than
to be able to say that they have the only true nuclear independence in
Europe."
It is very likely that the French nuclear force will be the nucleus of a
combined European force in the future.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau
Post Script: For an excellent insight into life in the Soviet Union, I
recommend that ministers and other readers of The Pastor General's Report
obtain a copy of the June 23, 1980 issue of Time magazine. Virtually the
entire issue is devoted to the theme: Inside-the USSR.