DoD News Briefing
Friday, May 14, 1999 - 2:00 p.m.
Presenter: Mr. Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD PA
...................... Q: Ken, before you turn it over to General Wald, can you just comment at all on today's New York Times story that says China is getting close to deploying a nuclear warhead that's largely drawn from U.S. technology that was apparently stolen? Is that true? Can you comment on that?
Mr. Bacon: It is not a new story that China did in the late '70s or early '80s acquire some information about the so-called W-70 warhead known more popularly as the "neutron bomb." I don't know how close they are to deploying that warhead. I would point out that the neutron bomb or the W-70 warhead, which we no longer use and in fact never used, is a tactical weapon, not a strategic weapon. It has very peculiar properties. It's not the type of weapon that any normal force would use in a strategic context. But it has, for instance, a relatively small footprint, because of the way it's designed.
But I cannot tell you at what stage they are, if any, in their development. We do know that they have had some information about this for some time.
Q: Maybe I misunderstood this, but I thought the New York Times story was referring to the W-88 warhead.
Mr. Bacon: It was not. It's very important to make a distinction. There have been two -- that's an entirely different issue. That's an issue that occurred from alleged espionage perhaps a half decade to a full decade later than the incident involving the W-70 warhead. The W-88 warhead, of course, is an entirely different warhead. That is a strategic nuclear warhead. The W-70 or neutron bomb is not. The New York Times story clearly was about technology that is now 20-25 years old and has been completely abandoned by the United States, actually during the Carter Administration.
As you know, there was a major dispute and debate about that with our allies in Europe, the so-called "neutron bomb debate."
Q: The Times story associates the neutron bomb with a strategic missile system, a new one which they say is about to be fielded. Does that make any sense?
Mr. Bacon: I found it a curious... (Laughter)
Q: They were talking about mobile missiles.
Mr. Bacon: They were talking about a mobile missile, I think.
Q: Can you update us on when you expect that mobile, ground-based missile to be deployed?
Mr. Bacon: I'm afraid I cannot, but the article itself said it would be -- they thought it would be several years.
Q: That conflicts with some other reports that it would be much sooner than that.
Mr. Bacon: I don't know.
Q: Do you have any information about the Chinese having done neutron bomb testing in recent years?
Mr. Bacon: I do not. No.
Q: Ken...
Mr. Bacon: Of course the buildings would still be there, so it would be hard to... (Laughter)
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