Date

Jan 30, 1973

Source

DNSA; from RG 59, Subject-Numeric Files, 1970-73, Top Secret Files, box 11, POL U.K. Word having reached the State Department about Kissinger’s back-channel discussions with the British, Department officials weighed in on the major options under consideration. Johnson recommended to Kissinger against giving “either an affirmative or a negative decision on the sale of POSEIDON to the UK.” Whether to proceed with Super Antelope or to acquire Poseidon RVs was still being debated in London and the debate needed to run its course. Moreover, Washington needed to “weigh the substantial contribution to our own Balance of Payments position which the sale of POSEIDON would represent against the undesirable effects of the release of this sophisticated weapons technology.” Yet the sale could have adverse implications for the SALT process, e.g., no-transfer concerns. Finally, if the U.S. said “no” it would raise the question whether the U.S. was terminating the “special relationship.” The State Department recommended a “warm, sympathetic but noncommittal response to a Heath request for POSEIDON” as the best way to “advance US interests at this point.”

Document published in following posting(s):

Concern About Future U.S. Reliability Influenced British Quest for Trident Missiles

Jul 16, 2021