CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
(c)
include an option for deployment to the Southern
Region amongst the tasks envisaged for the IK
land and air force contributions to SACFIR'S
strategic reserve;
(a)
increase their capabilities for effective and
timely reinforcement of the Northern Region
beyond the current proposals.
To these ends they suggest a number of compensatory measures which
we might take to mitigate the effect of our reductions (see
paragraph 10(a) of Annex B); and they wish us to continue consulta-
tions with them.
9. If we were to do anything of military significance to meet
these points within the resources we have allocated to defence,
we would need to shift resources from one area of NATO to another
and hence change the strategic priorities underlying our 3rd
December proposals. I cannot recommend such a course; nor has
NATO made constructive proposals of this kind. But I do recommend,
subject to stringent conditions, certain gestures to meet the
points of concern to NATO. They would cost us little or nothing;
but they would be of considerable political significance.
10.
Accordingly I propose to offer certain measures to NATO
without further ado, and announce them in the Defence White Paper.
They are:-
a.
Conversion of HERMES to CVS role 2 years earlier,
in 1976 instead of 1978.
CONFIDENT JAL
5 -
CONFIDENTIAL