Checking Soviet Armor's Threat to NATO

Publication Date: March 1988

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Walter E. Fischer

Research Area: International relations

Keywords: Russia and Eurasia

Type: Report

Coverage: Soviet Union

Abstract:

The problem of defending against Soviet armored divisions has in the past depended too much on an increasingly obsolete inventory of tactical nuclear weapons. NATO has made the decision to modernize these weapons, and it should proceed to do so. Tactical nuclear weapons force Soviet military commanders to reassess their plans for armored thrusts into West Germany. At the same time, though, NATO must upgrade its conventional capabilities. Well-armed troops capable of stopping a Warsaw Pact offensive without resort to nuclear weapons are essential for the continued credibility of NATO's deterrent posture.