Red Rockets

Res Rockets

How many rockets have the Russians? Unable to make its own nose-conecount, but presumably making use of Allied intelligence estimates, Britain's private but authoritative Institute for Strategic Studies last week reported a sobering answer. The I.S.S. estimate:

P: The Soviets now have about 100 major operational missile bases in a crescent extending from the White Sea down to the Baltic Coast to former Koenigsberg, and on into the Southern Ukraine and the Carpathians, with some forward launching sites in the Thuringian forest of East Germany.

P: On the launching pads are T-3 ICBMs, with a range of more than 5,000 miles, and the T-2 and T-4 IRBMs, with ranges of 1,600 and 1,000 miles respectively. If Soviet missile doctrine is similar to the West's, each base has about 15 missiles. According to the Institute, the Soviet missile force numbers about 200,000 men, commanded by an Engineer-General with responsibility for the manufacture of nuclear weapons and missiles as well as testing and operations.

P: Supplementing the land-based rockets, many of Russia's 450 submarines are armed with the 95-mile-range Komet ballistic missile, which can be fired from underwater and is already in service, and the surface-fired 310-mile-range Golem, which is now in mass production.

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