Soviet Missile Trick Suspected : SS-20 Move May Be Bid to Sway Dutch, U.S. Says

WASHINGTON — The Soviet Union has been dismantling or moving its SS-20 intermediate-range missiles in what may prove to be a nuclear sleight of hand intended to block Dutch deployment of U.S. cruise missiles, according to NATO and U.S. officials.

In the last several months, three squadrons of nine missiles each have “disappeared” from established sites in the European part of the Soviet Union, these officials said.

And it is expected that at least four more SS-20 squadrons will be removed from known bases by Nov. 1, when the Netherlands government is scheduled to decide whether to accept 48 U.S. cruise missiles on its soil.

That decision hinges on whether the size of the Soviet SS-20 missile force stands at 378--its level in June, 1984, when the Dutch government took its current position--or whether it is larger or smaller.

The Pentagon continues to count the missiles that have “disappeared” as deployed, for a total of 441 SS-20s.

If the number of SS-20s exceeds 378 on Nov. 1, the Dutch have said they will accept all 48 of the winged cruise missiles as their share of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization force of 572 cruise and Pershing 2 missiles designed to counter the SS-20 threat. If it is less than 378, however, none of the U.S. weapons will be accepted.

A third possibility is that the SS-20 force will exceed 378 but that the Dutch will accept a reduced number of American weapons in anticipation of a U.S.-Soviet arms control agreement.

NATO and U.S. officials say they are prepared to counter any Soviet claim that they have reduced the number of SS-20s by demanding that the removed missiles be openly destroyed before the claim is accepted.

“The Soviets will have to account for those SS-20 missiles, however many ‘disappear,’ if they want to boast they are reducing the force,” a State Department official said. “As mobile weapons, it won’t do for them to just take them away from one place. They can crop up very quickly somewhere else.”

But a cut in SS-20s is certain to revive the large and influential anti-nuclear sentiment in the Netherlands--making the government’s Nov. 1 decision, which must be ratified by the Dutch Parliament, much more difficult.

Rejection of the U.S. missiles then undoubtedly would affect the climate of the summit meeting in Geneva between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev three weeks later, on Nov. 19-20.

A Dutch rejection also might affect West Germany’s decision to accept 96 U.S. cruise missiles, in addition to 108 Pershing 2 ballistic missiles, for deployment. About half of the Pershings already have been emplaced in Germany, but the cruise missiles will only begin arriving there in 1986.

Of the total of 464 cruise missiles going to Europe, Britain will receive 160, Italy 112, and Belgium 48. These three nations already have begun taking their alloted share, while the Netherlands would be the last of the five NATO nations slated to receive the intermediate-range U.S. missiles.

Operational by 1988

All of the U.S. weapons carry single warheads, while the Soviet SS-20s have three warheads. The SS-20 deployments began in 1977, leading to the NATO decision in 1979 to undertake counterdeployments. The initial Pershing 2 shipment occurred in 1983, and the entire Pershing and cruise missile force is scheduled to be operational by 1988.

Some of the evacuated SS-20 sites already have been modified to take the new Soviet SS-25 intercontinental missiles, officials said. These long-range weapons, also mobile, were designed by the same team of engineers that created the SS-20s.

Both the SS-20 and SS-25 missiles and their erector-launcher transport vehicles are normally housed in “garages” that are similar to each other. Their roofs can slide open for launching if necessary, or the truck-like transporters can take the missiles to distant locations for firing.

Missile Deployment

In mid-1984, about two-thirds of the SS-20 force--243 missiles--were deployed in the European part of the Soviet Union and aimed at NATO targets, while the rest were east of the Ural Mountains in Siberia or the Soviet Far East, aimed at China, Japan and U.S. bases in that region.

A Defense Department spokesman refused to say how the current force of 441 SS-20s is distributed, suggesting that most or all of the recent deployments have occurred beyond Europe.

Meanwhile, Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that the deployment of cruise missiles in the Netherlands has become inevitable because, he understands, the Soviet Union has rejected NATO proposals to eliminate or sharply reduce intermediate-range missiles on both sides.

“In June, 1984, we made a strong appeal to the Soviet Union to reverse the trend of an ever-increasing buildup of SS-20 missiles, in which case we would be prepared to forgo deployment of INF (cruise) missiles on our territory,” Van den Broek said. “Unfortunately, our participation in INF deployment now seems to become as yet inevitable since that appeal has remained unheeded.”