Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

In 1987 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed the first major Soviet-U.S. disarmament agreement - the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The pact broke precedent in three ways. Previous treaties limited weapons, but the INF Treaty stipulated abolition of top-of-the-line missiles. Second, the deal was highly asymmetrical: Moscow gave up more than Washington. Third, the treaty's provisions were to be verified not just by "national means" (mainly, spy satellites), but also by on-site inspections by Soviets in the United States and Americans in the USSR.

Demand for such a treaty arose in the 1970s when the USSR began to deploy what the West called SS-20 missiles. These were two-stage, inter-mediate-range missiles, many of them mobile, hard for the United States to track or attack. Since most SS-20s targeted Europe (some aimed at China), they were intimidating to America's NATO partners.

The Reagan administration proposed a "zero option." If the USSR abolished all its SS-20s, the United States would not build an equivalent. After Moscow refused, the United States deployed in Europe two kinds of INF: cruise missiles that could fly in under Soviet radar, and ballistic missiles with warheads able to reach Kremlin bomb shelters.

Seeking better relations with the West, Gorbachev put aside his objections to the U.S. quest for antimissile defenses. Gorbachev and Reagan in 1987 signed a treaty that obliged both countries to destroy all their ground-based missiles, both ballistic and cruise, with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. To reach zero, the Kremlin had to remove more than three times as many warheads and destroy more than twice as many missiles as Washington, a process both sides completed in 1991. Skeptics noted that each side retained other missiles able to do the same work as those destroyed and that INF warheads and guidance systems could be recycled.

Bibliography

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—WALTER C. CLEMENS JR.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987 (INF) was the first nuclear weapons agreement requiring the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) to reduce, rather than merely limit, their arsenals of nuclear weapons. Signed by President Ronald Reagan, of the United States, and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, of the U.S.S.R., on December 8, 1987, the INF Treaty eliminated all land-based nuclear missiles with ranges of between three hundred and thirty-four hundred miles. The U.S. Senate quickly ratified the treaty in 1988 by a vote of 93-5.

The INF Treaty marked a historic shift in superpower relations and was the first superpower arms control treaty since 1979. It required the removal of 1,752 Soviet and 859 U.S. short- and intermediate-range missiles, most of which were located in Europe. It was the second superpower agreement to ban an entire class of weapons, the first being the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. The INF Treaty also contained unprecedented verification procedures, including mandatory exchanges of relevant missile data, on-site inspections, and satellite surveillance.

Soviet concessions in the INF negotiations grew out of Gorbachev's efforts to limit military competition between the United States and the U.S.S.R. The new Soviet willingness to make arms control concessions was first evident in the 1986 Stockholm Accord, which established various confidence- and security-building measures between the superpowers and their allied countries, including on-site inspections and advance warning of military movements. In 1988, a year after signing the INF, Gorbachev continued his ambitious program of military cuts by announcing a unilateral reduction of half a million troops, including the removal of fifty thousand troops and five thousand tanks from eastern Europe. These developments met with a positive response from the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, and created an atmosphere conducive to future arms accords, including the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty of 1990 and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties of 1991 and 1993.

See: Cold War.

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U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signing the INF Treaty in the East Room at the White House in 1987.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) is a 1987 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. Signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on December 8, 1987, it was ratified by the United States Senate on May 27, 1988 and came into force on June 1 of that year. The treaty is formally titled The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles.

The treaty eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges, defined as between 500-5,500 km (300-3,400 miles). By the treaty's deadline of June 1, 1991, a total of 2,692 of such weapons had been destroyed, 846 by the U.S. and 1,846 by the Soviet Union, which was much more unequal in number of INF warheads destroyed. Under the treaty both nations were allowed to inspect each other's military installations.

Contents 1 History 2 Affected programs 3 See also 4 External links 5 Source

History

The agreement was stimulated by the Soviet Union's deployment of their SS-20 missile from 1975 and the US response. The SS-20 replaced existing SS-4 and SS-5 missiles. The longer range, greater accuracy, mobility and striking power of the new missile was perceived to alter the security of Western Europe. After discussions, NATO agreed to a two part strategy - firstly to pursue arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union to reduce their and the American INF arsenals; secondly to deploy in Europe from 1983 up to 464 ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCM) and 108 Pershing II ballistic missiles. Until the late 1970s NATO had clear superiority over USSR in INF systems because Soviets possessed only liquid-fueled, single warhead, very inaccurate and easy to destroy IRBMs and a few hundreds equally outdated subsonic heavy bombers of Tu-16 and Tu-22 types. In contrast, NATO and USAFE had Mirage IV, V-force and brand-new F-111 bombers in addition to French, British, and US precise, solid propelled IRBMs and SLBMs based in Europe and on adjacent waters. So Soviet attempts to close the "INF gap" by SS-20 and Tu-22M deployment was met with NATO moves to secure Western alliance nuclear advantage in Europe thanks to GLCM and Pershing II installation.

Despite dissatisfaction with the deployment of US weapons in Europe, the Soviet Union agreed to open negotiations and preliminary discussions began in Geneva in 1980. Formal talks began in September 1981 with the US "Zero option" offer - the complete elimination of all Pershing, GLCM, SS-20, SS-4 and SS-5 missiles. Following disagreement over the exclusion of British and French delivery systems, the talks were suspended by the Soviet delegation in November 1983. In 1984, despite public protest, the US began to deploy INF systems in West Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

In March 1986 negotiations between the US and the Soviet Union resumed, covering not only the INF issue but also separate discussions on strategic weapons (START I) and space issues (NST). In late 1985 both sides were moving towards limiting INF systems in Europe and Asia. On January 15, 1986, Gorbachev announced a Soviet proposal for a ban on all nuclear weapons by 2000, which included INF missiles in Europe. This was dismissed by the US and countered with a phased reduction of INF launchers in Europe and Asia to none by 1989. There would be no constraints on British and French nuclear forces.

A series of meetings in August and September 1986 culminated in the Reykjavík Summit between Reagan and Gorbachev on October 11, 1986. Both agreed in principle to remove INF systems from Europe and to equal global limits of 100 INF missile warheads. Gorbachev also proposed deeper and more fundamental changes in the strategic relationship. More detailed negotiations extended throughout 1987, aided by the decision of West Geman Chancellor Helmut Kohl in August to unilaterally remove the joint U.S.-West German Pershing IA systems. The treaty text was finally agreed in September 1987.

A Soviet inspector examines a BGM-109G Tomahawk ground launched cruise missile in 1988 prior to its destruction.

On February 10, 2007, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin declared that the INF Treaty no longer serves Russia's interests. On February 14, ITAR-Tass and Interfax quoted General Yuri Baluyevsky, the Russian military's chief of general staff, as saying that Russia could pull out of the INF, and that the decision would depend on the United States' actions with its proposed Ground-Based Midcourse Defense missile defense system, parts of which the U.S. plans to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Affected programs

Specific missiles destroyed:

• United States
  • Pershing Ib and Pershing II
  • BGM-109G Gryphon
• Soviet Union
  • SS-4 'Sandal'
  • SS-5 'Skean'
  • SS-12 'Scaleboard'
  • SS-23 'Spider'
  • SS-20 'Saber'
  • SSC-X-4

See also

• Hollanditis
• Woensdrecht
• NATO Double-Track Decision

External links

• Full text of the treaty

Source

"A survey of American History Volume II Since 1865 " By Alan Brinkley, Twelfth Edition, Library on Congress # 20059365862

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