Cruise Missiles

The cruise missile is the principal innovation in U.S. weaponry in the early 1980s. Because it is inexpensive and versatile, it is likely to be used for a wide range of military missions. At the same time, it has become a delicate issue in arms control and alliance politics. Although cruise missile programs are among the most dynamic elements in the U.S. defense buildup, their consequences have not been fully appreciated. This book assesses the complex set of technological, budgetary, strategic, diplomatic, and political implications of this new weapon as a contribution to public understanding of its pervasive influence on diplomacy and military affairs. Cruise missile technology and development programs are dealt with in chapters by John C. Toomay; Godron MacDonald, Jack Ruina, and Mark Balaschak; Ron Huisken; and John C. Baker. Military uses and arm control implications are discussed by Bruce Bennett and James Foster; Roger H. Palin; Richard Burt; Michael MccGwire; George H. Quester; and William H. Kinkade. Diplomatic and national political questions are analyzed by Raymond L. Garthoff; Robert J. Art and Stephen E. Ockenden; Gregory F. Treverton; Lawrence D. Freedman; and Catherine McArdle Kelleher.

Richard K. Betts is on the staff of the Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Program and coauthor (with Leslie H. Gelb) of The Irony of Vietnam: The System Worked (Brookings, 1979).