
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990                   TAG: 9004180536
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/8   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

BUSH AIDE CITES SOVIET STRENGTH

The Soviet Union would have a completely modern, formidable nuclear force even after carrying out cutbacks under a START treaty with the United States, a senior adviser to President Bush said today.

The cutbacks, now being negotiated in Geneva, would trim the size of the Soviet arsenal, Edward Rowny told the Reserve Officers' Association.

But, in the meantime, Rowny said in a prepared speech, Soviet strategic forces - long-range nuclear missiles, bombers and submarines - are being systematically upgraded to provide for a powerful arsenal after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty,

The retired Army lieutenant general, who also served as an adviser to President Reagan, added: "The USSR is intent on retaining its claim to the status of a superpower equal to the United States that only first-rate nuclear forces can provide."

He said the Soviets were upgrading their strategic nuclear weapons far more aggressively than the United States. For instance, Rowny said, the Soviets are making their land-based SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles more accurate and more powerful while continuing to deploy SS-24s with 10 warheads both in silos and as mobile weapons.

by CNB