Date

Jan 23, 1978

Description

Odom brought to Brzezinski's attention an INR report on recent intelligence that the Soviets had acquired a "fast reaction" ICBM launch capability that made launch-on-warning feasible. According to the report, the quick-launch feature encouraged the Soviets to see their ICBMs as their "prime retaliatory force." Odom observed that the INR report represented an "upgrading" of an intelligence estimate that had been made a year earlier. "The least comforting implication is the [limited] readiness warning time we might have."

Source

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, National Security Files, NLC-6-79-4-20-3

Document published in following posting(s):

The “Launch on Warning” Nuclear Strategy and Its Insider Critics

Jun 11, 2019

William E. Odom to Zbigniew Brzezinski, "Soviet Launch-on-Warning Capability," 23 January 1978, with [State Department] Bureau of Intelligence and Research paper attached, "Soviet Launch-on-Warning Capability," 22 January 1978, Top Secret, excised copy