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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHow U.S. Power stacks up against Russia, China 1975 From Official Testimony A FRESH LOOK AT HOW U. S. POWER ' ,. STACKS UP AGAINST RUSSIA, CHINA American, Soviet strategic • China is no immediate threat to the with multiple warheads capable of strik- forces are about equal, says U. S. with strategic nuclear weapons. ing separate targets. But its huge Army poses a danger to The SS -19, the newest in the Soviet the Pentagon —but the picture U. S. allies throughout Asia. arsenal, is thought able to deliver six changes when it comes to The chart on this page shows how key warheads 5,000 nautical miles or more. forces of the three powers compare, as One missile —the SS- X -16—is believed armies, navies, air arms. presented to Congress in annual to be designed to be fired from a truck, military - posture statements by Secretary making it difficult for opposing rockets of Defense James R. Schlesinger, Gen. or bombers to knock out. This is the latest official size -up of U. S. George S. Brown, Chairman of the Joint In response, the Pentagon is improv- defenses by top policy makers: Chiefs of Staff, and other high officials. ing the accuracy of Minuteman missiles • Strategic nuclear forces of the U. S. The defense leaders described the and increasing the power of missile and Russia — intercontinental missiles, picture in this detail: warheads. submarine missiles and long -range But Mr. Schlesinger also proposes to bombers —are approximately in balance. Intercontinental Missile increase strategic strength to the limits • The Soviets outgun U. S. ground Four new types of Soviet missiles are of the Vladivostok pact signed last fall — forces, but the U. S. has a superior air expected to be put in operation this 2,400 strategic missiles and bombers —if arm. Russian naval strength is beginning year: the SS -X -16, the SS -17, the SS -18 Russia continues its build -up. to level off after years of growth. and the SS -19. Many are being fitted (continued on next page) Among Three Major Powers ... TANKS MILITARY BALANCE SHEET a n0c,o U.S. - -- _ 9,000 U.S.S. 40,000 a CHINA 1,000 TROOP STRENGTH (active -duty forces) TACTICAL AIRCRAFT Ir if f 1 1 ' u.S. 2,100,000 �);� � U.S. 5,500 U.S.S.R. 4,200,000 U.S.S.R. 5,150 CHINA 3,000,000 CHINA 1,000 INTERCONTINENTAL MISSILES HELICOPTERS .0 U.S. 1,054 v �e_ U.S. 9,000 U.S.S.R. 1,590 U.S.S.R. 2,000 CHINA 0 CHINA 1,000 12 SUBMARINE - LAUNCHED MISSILES MAJOR SURFACE SHIPS U.S. 656 r _ U.S. 175 ..r,..4. _ : U.S.S.R. 700 ` U.S.S.R. 220 CHINA 0 CHINA 30 STRATEGIC BOMBERS ATTACK SUBMARINES "ti4FIP U.S. 498 U.S. - , 75 U.S.S.R. 160 U.S.S.R. 150 CHINA 0 CHINA 65 Source U.S. Dept. of Defense COPYRIGHT © 1975, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT. INC. U. S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, March 3, 1975 55 U. S. POWER COMPARED a board the aircraft carrier Enterprise [continued from preceding page] i � and the first F -15 Eagles were delivered _ « °' to the Air Force in November. ; Mr. Schlesinger wants to go ahead � - ' Defense officials propose to go ahead with research on an entirely new ICBM, ' with the Airborne Warning and Control the MX. This missile would give the U. S. , �� .� � 4 yi ' System (AWACS), a fleet of radar - the option of building versions that , ' equipped planes designed to guide could be launched from planes or land- „ 66 � - ' fighter planes to attacking aircraft. mobile carriers. �� The Soviet Air Force is increasing in I China has a force of short - range mis- `�' number and quality as older fighters are siles that can strike Russia. Intercon replaced by MIG -23 Floggers. But "a 1 4 tinental-range missiles that are capable , F g a new prototype fighter has not been of hitting the U. S. are in development. h �� ' observed since 1970," says General But technical difficulties with big mis ��. � y, � ' Brown. siles have slowed ro ress. � : ' � p g In bombs guided by radar, television, Submarine Missiles ����� " � �- � . and lasers the U. S. claims a wide edge. The U. S. presently can transport The Soviet Union is continuing to more by air than the Soviet Union can. increase its lead in submarine missiles. ,0. But Pentagon officials say U. S. needs No end to the Soviet construction of ; also are greater because of the necessity new ballistic - missile submarines is in ''� " ' 1 to supply forces far from the U. S. sight. Russia now has 52 such nuclear China's planes are mostly models of subs and the U. S. has spotted the start of U R older Russian aircraft. a new, larger model of the Delta -class Gen. George Brown, Chairman of the Joint submarine. Chiefs: U. S. can meet any "provocation." Navies The U. S. plans on replacing its aging Both the U. S. and the Soviet surface Polaris submarines with the larger Tri- bomber, designed in the Soviet Union, fleets appear to be declining in size. dent by the late 1980s or early 1990s. has a combat radius of 1,650 nautical The total number of ships in the U. S. The Trident construction program is miles —long enough to pose a threat to Navy — including submarines and sup - being slowed "to ease the financial strain the Soviet Union but not to hit the U. S. port vessels —will drop to 496 by July, on the defense budget and to relax the Ground Forces 1976, the fewest since 1939. r oun orces pressure on the shipbuilder." Similarly, as Soviet ships become more Each Trident will carry 24 missiles of Russia not only has about twice as sophisticated and costly, production ap- 4,000 miles' range or more, compared many troops on active duty as the U. S. pears to be slowing there. with 16 of 2,500 -mile range for the does, it also is ahead in tanks, artillery, A significant addition to the Russian Polaris. First of the Tridents is to go into armored ,personnel carriers and heavy fleet will be the Kiev, the first Soviet operation in 1979. mortars — measurements of an army's aircraft carrier. It is expected to go into Communist China is developing mis- strength. operation sometime next year, armed sile submarines, but deployment of oper- Of the 166 Soviet divisions, 40 are with helicopters and vertical- short -take- ational versions has not been reported. stationed on the Chinese border. off (V /STOL) aircraft. Strategic Bombers In contrast, the U. S. Army has only 13 The U. S. Navy's carriers will decline 9 divisions. It is in the process of raising from 15 to 13 next year. Officials say this The U. S. bomber force, composed of that total to 16 through reorganization. is more a matter of economics than any aging B -52s and newer FB -111s, far There are also three Marine divisions. basic change in naval strategy. outnumbers the Soviet bomber fleet, but American officials say NATO troops This year the Navy is to add Harpoon readiness is to be reduced somewhat. could handle any attack on Western cruise missiles similar to those in the Says Secretary Schlesinger: "No signif- Europe by the Soviet Union and its Soviet Navy. Such missiles fly from icant long -range bomber threat to the allies. The NATO arsenal includes a launcher to target through the atmos- United States now exists." variety of nuclear -armed artillery phere rather than looping high into the The part of the bomber fleet on alert rounds, atomic mines and surface -to -air stratosphere before falling to Earth. around the clock is to be reduced to 30 missiles —all under U. S. lock and key. Underwater, Moscow is expected to per cent from 40 per cent. China, with 3 million regulars in the replace more of its older diesel subma- Mr. Schlesinger says the Pentagon will armed forces, plus 8 million in militia rines with nuclear models. not decide whether or not to produce units, has 90 of its 210 divisions deployed The U. S. attack - submarine force, after the B -1 bomber until at least late 1976. near its Soviet border. Without large a period of decline, will start to grow in The first prototype of the costly plane is numbers of transport planes and ships, number in 1976, with introduction of currently being flight- tested. the Chinese Army poses a direct threat new, quieter 688 -class submarines. To keep the B -52s flying, a moderniza- only to those U. S. troops stationed in The largest ships in the Chinese fleet tion program is under way. By Sep- South Korea, according to the Pentagon. are four Luta -class destroyers armed tember, 1976, partial "reskinning" of with cruise missiles. More are being wings and fuselages of the B -52s with Air Force built. China also is building long -range new metal is scheduled to be completed. U. S. military men contend they have attack submarines, but the present fleet Meanwhile, the Russian interconti- better aircraft and pilots as well as is limited mainly to coastal duty. nental bomber force is expected to in- possessing slightly more fighters, small crease to 160 by July as more Backfire bombers and reconnaissance planes than Summing up, General Brown says: aircraft are built. With aerial refueling Russia has. Says General Brown: "The F- "Our military forces, together with the Backfire could reach virtually all of 14 and F -15 are the two finest fighters in those of our allies, possess today the the U. S. from Soviet Arctic bases. the world today." capabilities to meet any foreseeable Communist China's TU -16 Badger The first F -14 Tomcats are stationed provocation." 5 6 U. S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, March 3, 1975