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All You Ever Wanted To Know About MIRV and ICBM Calculations But Were Not Cleared To Ask

Author

Listed:
  • Lynn Etheridge Davis

    (Institute of War and Peace Studies and Department of Political Science, Barnard College)

  • Warner R. Schilling

    (Institute of War and Peace Studies and Department of Political Science, Columbia University)

Abstract

This paper (1) explains the variables and methods used to calculate the MIRV threat to the fixed-site land-based ICBM forces of the United States and the Soviet Union; (2) attempts to reconstruct the calculations presented in the 1969 ABM debate by Albert Wohlstetter, George Rathjens, and John S. Foster about the number of Minutemen which could be expected to survive an attack by forces of various sizes and characteristics; and (3) applies these methods, together with some plausible assumptions about classified variables, to two other security issues: the import of the SALT limitation on the size of the Soviet SS-9 force and the character of the threat to the Soviet fixed-site ICBM force posed by the American MIRV program.

Suggested Citation

  • Lynn Etheridge Davis & Warner R. Schilling, 1973. "All You Ever Wanted To Know About MIRV and ICBM Calculations But Were Not Cleared To Ask," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 17(2), pages 207-242, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:17:y:1973:i:2:p:207-242
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