ABSTRACT
The deployment of the SS-20 missiles removed European complacency. This new generation of nuclear-tipped missile enjoyed a Circular Error Probable that was 1,000 percent improved over its predecessors. In Europe, and certainly in France, much thought has been given to the exposure of people air forces. They are very vulnerable, as are the majority of Western European conventional forces, to a potential aggressor assuming the initiative and making a first strike with highly accurate weapons. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program has acquired considerable definition and momentum since President Ronald Reagan's speech of March 23, 1983. The United States (US) could be pressured by European public opinion to withdraw while damage is slight. Active defense must be examined as an appropriate, albeit partial, response to the dilemma created by the relative vulnerability of the Western European conventional forces. The problems facing the US and European scientific, engineering, and military communities are enormous.
