1856 



irresistibly against remote targets, calls for a revised definition of 

 national security as an important task of long-range planning. 



Continuation of the arms race affords no additional security. Its 

 sole utility is to convince the adversary of U.S. determination to 

 maintain the political and military status quo despite the cost. 



The technology encompassed by subnuclear high-precision weapons 

 is a remarkable achievement, but how it contributes to U.S. national 

 security is not evident. Used against a major foe it invites escalation; 

 used against a lesser foe it invites proliferation. 



Thus, in dealing with the relationship of technology to national 

 security, and in formulating a strategic concept for the use of tech- 

 nology to enhance the national security, it is necessary, first, to define 

 what the national security is in 1975, and what aspects of technology, 

 present and future, have bearing — beneficial or adverse — on that 

 security. 



It is the function of the Department of Defense to maintain the 

 national security. The Department is accordingly concerned with such 

 questions as: What threats are there against U.S. national security? 

 Whence do they come? How dangerous are they? In what ways are 

 they changing? How prepared is the United States to counteract 

 these threats? What must be done to counteract new or changing 

 threats? 



As long as there is a credible "nuclear umbrella" to deter nuclear 

 attack, such an attack would be an irrational folly. Policy requires 

 that the nuclear umbrella be kept credible. But mutual reduction of 

 nuclear weapons is as reasonable a way of doing this as is a mutual 

 arms race, and it costs less. 



The danger of escalation is offered by the continued proliferation 

 of subnuclear precision weapons: As these spread, are deployed to 

 NATO and other U.S. allies as in Latin America, and perhaps by the 

 Soviet Union to satelhte countries, the prospect is increased that 

 minor conflicts will grow in intensity and geographic spread. The 

 consequences for the national security surely need to be analyzed and 

 not assumed to be beneficial. 



NEED FOR REDEFINING NATIONAL SECURITY 



At this period of the development of the world and of the United 

 States a new epoch seems to be unfolding. It is one that appears to 

 offer great opportunities and to threaten great dangers. The epoch 

 demands a new definition of the national securitj^ and a new definition 

 of the role of the Department of Defense to provide this security. The 

 new definition of the national security requires that cognizance be 

 taken of such elements as : 



— The assured flow of imported raw materials to mass-pro- 

 duction, low-technology industries; 



— The availability of a sound railroad system, without which 

 the U.S. steel industry would close down in 10 days; 



— The maintenance of the total flow of intelligence, including 

 data from satellite overflights, to assure stability and reliable 

 maintenance of the deterrent; 



— The desirability of encouraging a consumer-oriented tech- 

 nological trend in the Soviet Union to reduce the Soviet resource 

 allocation to arms development; 



