ABSTRACT
The validity of a proposition on the utility of military technology in preserving and even augmenting a state's security finds its supreme corollary in nuclear deterrence theory. New military technology, introduced by one side in the name of stability, eventually contradicts the justification the moment the other side introduces similar counter-technology. A driving force behind the speed of technological progress after World War II was the fact that technology embodied one of the most visible aspects of political competition between East and West. There are several important reasons to pay more attention to conventional weapons and forces in examining the problem of military technology and its influence on European security. The increasingly generic character of modern weapons technology is clearly revealed by the fact that an increasing number of new but different weapons systems utilize exactly the same subsystems in their functioning.
