Missile Defence and the Decline of Détente, 1972–9

Abstract

In many ways Soviet ABM policy was at its least interesting stage during the years covered by this chapter. There was little visible interest in the issue, and the Soviet development and deployment effort continued quietly in the background. The USSR’s continuation of the research, development and deployment of anti-ballistic missile defence is somewhat surprising given the restrictions on such systems which Moscow accepted as part of the ABM Treaty. The Soviet tradition of emphasizing territorial defences only partially explains this decision. It was instead the consensus-seeking style of the Brezhnev Politburo and the strength of entrenched bureaucratic interests in the Soviet military industrial complex which ensured that routine and gradual upgrading of the ABM system surrounding Moscow continued. Another surprising decision taken during these years was the approval given for the construction of a radar near the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. This radar was repeatedly the target of American claims of Soviet cheating and the Gorbachev leadership eventually acknowledged that the Krasnoyarsk radar did indeed violate the terms of the ABM Treaty.