-21-
PRINE MINISTER
I cannot remember that particular comment, nor can I
remember that it came up with me, but the answer is just exactly
as I have given it to you: we are not seeking, in the West,
We are being accused by the Soviet Union of
superiority.
seeking superiority;
we are not. We are seeking balance.
If the Soviet Union's research and what she has done so
•
far and appears to be doing goes ahead, it would give her superiority unlem reflected by research on the side of the
United States on behalf of the Nest.
Now, at the moment, therefore, we are in the research
phase. We do not know what the results of that research will
be,
so we are not at the stage even of being able to design what you call "weapons in space", let alone go into production. There are concepts; there are things which we know work on a
basis of a very few tests, one of which you have seen.
If you start to design weapons, then obviously that
becomes a matter for negotiation, but I am puzzled really, because I have said it so many times now that I find difficulty
with understanding why you are
asking the same
question again and again. It is balance, so you have to do
research. Research is permitted by treaties.
If you go
into weaponry it has to be negotiated with the other party to
the treaties.