Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were a series of Cold War negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union aimed at curtailing the arms race in strategic nuclear weapons. Initiated in 1969, the talks produced two major agreements, SALT I and SALT II, which established the first numerical limits on intercontinental ballistic missiles and other delivery systems. These landmark treaties represented a critical shift towards détente and established a framework for future arms control efforts like the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

Background and origins

The impetus for the talks stemmed from the escalating and costly nuclear arms race following the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin expressed interest in dialogue to avoid mutual assured destruction. The technological advancement of Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles and Anti-Ballistic Missile systems created new instabilities, prompting the administration of Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to pursue negotiations. The formal talks commenced in Helsinki in November 1969, involving delegations led by Gerard Smith and Vladimir Semenov.

SALT I (1969–1972)

The SALT I negotiations culminated in two key agreements signed during the 1972 Moscow Summit between Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev. The cornerstone was the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which severely restricted nationwide ABM defenses to two sites per country. Accompanying this was the Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, which froze the existing number of ICBM and Submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers for five years. These accords were supplemented by the Accident Measures Agreement and the Hotline Agreement, aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear war.

SALT II (1972–1979)

Following SALT I, negotiations for a more comprehensive and permanent treaty began, continuing through the administrations of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. The talks faced significant challenges, including debates over new weapons like the Soviet Backfire Bomber and the American Cruise missile. The SALT II Treaty was finally signed by Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev at the Vienna Summit in June 1979. It established equal aggregate ceilings on strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and introduced sublimits on MIRVed systems, representing a more complex and detailed framework than its predecessor.

Key provisions and limitations

The SALT agreements focused on limiting launchers and delivery vehicles rather than warheads themselves. Key numerical ceilings included a freeze on fixed ICBM silos and limits on SLBM launchers and modern Ballistic missile submarines. SALT II established a central limit of 2,400 strategic nuclear delivery vehicles, later to be reduced to 2,250, with sublimits on MIRVed ICBMs, MIRVed SLBMs, and heavy bombers equipped with Air-launched cruise missiles. Verification relied primarily on National technical means of verification, including Satellite imagery and electronic monitoring, with agreements not to interfere with such methods.

Impact and legacy

Although the United States Senate never ratified SALT II following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, both nations largely adhered to its terms throughout the 1980s. The talks fundamentally established the principle of negotiated parity and created essential communication channels like the Standing Consultative Commission. The frameworks and precedents set by the negotiations directly paved the way for the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the START I negotiations under Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. The process demonstrated that even adversarial superpowers could engage in binding arms control, leaving a lasting legacy on global security diplomacy.

Category:Cold War treaties Category:Arms control treaties Category:History of the foreign relations of the United States Category:Russia–United States relations