Engineer Memoirs
Briefing former President Richard M. Nixon.
He was wrong on both counts. By the time SALT I was signed in 1972, the
Soviets had not only caught up to us but were ahead by 50 percent in ICBMs and
50 percent in nuclear armed submarines as well. Whereas we stopped building at
1,000, they went up to 1,600 ICBMs. Whereas we stayed at 40 submarines, they
went up to 62. As Harold Brown, President Carter's Secretary of Defense said,
"When we built, they built. When we cut, they built even more."
Q ..
Did President Reagan's five-year plan envision our catching up or surpassing the
Soviets?
Our five-year plan envisaged moving up towards the Soviet levels, but we had no
A:
plans to surpass them. We felt that if we moved towards them, it would give us
leverage and they would start moving down. We believed that if we modernized
our forces it would do two things. First, it would take care of our own security.
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