§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimates he has made of the increase in Soviet forces in Europe over the past five years, with such breakdown as he is able to make in respect of their nuclear missiles and warheads, combat aircraft, armoured vehicles and ground forces.
§ Mr. PymThere has been a further growth in the number of Soviet forces in Europe over the past five years, and the quality of their equipment has been significantly improved. The Soviet Union now spends about 12 per cent. of its GNP on military expenditure. For example, the introduction of the SS20 IRBM to replace the SS4 and SS5 has slightly reduced the actual number of missiles but the SS20 can deliver three warheads rather than one. We estimate that the SS20s already deployed produce a substantial increase in payload which will become larger as more missiles are brought into service. The latest versions of Soviet third generation tactical aircraft are much more effective, and the new Soviet T-64 main battle tanks which comprise nearly half of its tank numbers in Germany are a considerable improvement over earlier types.
In other areas there has been a dramatic increase in numbers. There are now twice as many armed and armoured helicopters, adding a new dimension to Soviet assault capability. Artillery weapons have increased by nearly 20 per cent. and 645W towed guns have been replaced by self-propelled guns. There has been a 50 per cent. increase in armoured combat vehicles for infantry. Numbers of soldiers in combat units in the ground forces have increased by some 5,000.