Half Full

Just two months ago, Ronald Reagan won a major round in his tireless fight for the MX missile when he persuaded Congress to release $1.5 billion to step up production of the controversial weapon. But in the long-running MX battle, victory can be fleeting. Last week the Senate forced the Administration to limit deployment of the MX to 50 missiles, half the number the White House wanted. The Defense Department, which had hoped to produce 48 more missiles in fiscal 1986, agreed to 21 and ultimately settled for twelve. Said Senate Democratic Leader Robert Byrd of the Administration's compromise: "To stave off defeat, they made concessions."

The leading antagonist of the MX was Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. Nunn and others have criticized the Government's plan to place the highly accurate ten-warhead missiles in existing Minuteman missile silos. Critics say that the immobile basing system makes the MX vulnerable, and a likely target for Soviet attack. Since March, Nunn has proposed limiting the number of silo-based MX's to 40, and last week he offered an amendment to the pending $302 billion defense authorization bill. When Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole realized that Nunn had enough support to win, he alerted the White House that the missile was in danger. "They were not paying attention," said a Republican Senator.

Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger was in Europe at a NATO meeting, so National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane was dispatched to Dole's office on Capitol Hill to bargain with Nunn. Despite the aggressive lobbying effort, the Administration gave in to Nunn's insistence on only twelve additional missiles in fiscal '86. The twelve to be produced will give the Air Force a total of 54 MX's. Of those, 50 can be deployed and four used either as spares or test vehicles. Under the compromise, the Air Force can order production of twelve to 21 more MX's in fiscal 1987. The Nunn amendment also states that Congress could in the future reconsider deploying a larger number of missiles if some more "mobile and deceptive" basing mode should be devised. The amendment was passed by a 78-20 vote. "I don't view this as the end of the MX," Nunn said afterward. "I view it as the end of the MX in fixed silos."

The Administration tried to put its best face on the missile cap. Said McFarlane: "Fifty on the way to 100, confirmed by a bipartisan vote, is clearly worthwhile." When a reporter pointed out that there was nothing in the bill guaranteeing an increase to 100 missiles, McFarlane retorted, "There is nothing in it that doesn't. You must always look at the glass as half full."