MX; Prescription for Disaster

Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1981. Second Printing [stated]. Trade paperback. Good. xi, [3], 231, [3] pages. Map. Illustrations. Glossary. Index. Name in ink on half-title page. The MX missile, was a land-based ICBM deployed by the United States starting in 1986. The Peacekeeper was a MIRV missile that could carry up to 10 re-entry vehicles, each armed with a 300-kiloton W87 warhead in a Mk.21 reentry vehicle (RV). A total of 50 missiles were deployed starting in 1986. MX was designed to allow the US to ride out a sneak attack by the Soviet ICBM fleet and then launch a counterattack. MX had to have three qualities; the ability to be rapidly re-targeted so it would only be attacking those Soviet missiles known to still be in their silos, enough accuracy to allow a small warhead to kill an enemy silo so more warheads could be packed on a single MX missile, and a basing system that meant enough of the missiles would survive an attack that the counterattack would be effective. The basing issue remained a problem and the subject of criticism during the MX's development. Herbert "Pete" Scoville served as the CIA's Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence and as Deputy Director for Research, and later was Assistant Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He was active with the Institute for Policy Studies and was an advisor to the Center for Defense Information. In January 1978, Scoville participated in the Washington, D.C. meetings of the World Peace Council Bureau. As at March 10, 1982, Herbert Scoville, former Deputy Director for Research and Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, and Assistant Director, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, was a member of the American Committee on East-West Accord. The ACEWA, based in Washington, D.C., was a tax-exempt "independent educational organization", with the stated aim of "improving East/West relations, with special focus on U.S.-Soviet relations."