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1962 - Presidential Speech: President Kennedy On Disarmament and Testing. 02Mar62 Pt 4 of 7

Reel Number: 221380-02-P4

Color: Black and White

Sound: SD

Year / Date: 1962

Country: USA,USSR

Location: DC,Washington,White House

TC Begins: 09:25:14

TC Ends: 09:29:48

Duration: 00:04:34

NOTE: FOR ORDERING See: www.footagefarm.co.uk or contact us at: Info@Footagefarm.co.uk 1962 - Presidential Speech: President Kennedy On Disarmament and Testing. 02Mar62 Pt 4 of 7 Continued... In addition to proof tests of existing systems, two different types of tests have therefore been decided upon. The first & most important are called "effects tests", determining what effect an enemy nuclear explosion would have upon our ability to survive & respond. We are spending great sums of money on radar to alert our defenses & to develop possible anti-missile systems: on the communications which enable our command & control centers to direct a response; on hardening our missiles sites, shielding our missiles & warheads from defensive action; and providing them w/ electronic guidance systems to find their targets. But we cannot be certain how much of this preparation will turn out to be useless: blacked out, paralyzed or destroyed by the complex effects of a nuclear explosion. 09:26:18 We know enough from earlier tests to be concerned about such phenomena. We know that the Soviets conducted such tests last fall. But until we measure the effects of actual explosions in the atmosphere under realistic conditions, we will not know precisely how to prepare our future defenses, how best to equip our missiles for penetration of an anti-missile system, or whether it is possible to achieve such a system for ourselves. Secondly, we must test in the atmosphere to permit the development of those more advanced concepts & more effective, efficient weapons which, in the light of Soviet tests, are deemed essential to our security. Nuclear weapons technology is a constantly changing field. If our weapons are to be more secure, more flexible in their use & more selective in their impact - if we are to be alert to new breakthroughs, to experiment w/ new designs - if we are to maintain our scientific momentum & leadership -then our weapons progress must not be limited to theory or to the confines of laboratories * caves. 09:27:40 This series is designed to lead to many important, if not always dramatic, results. Improving the nuclear yield per pound of weight in our weapons will make them easier to move, protect & fire; more likely to survive a surprise attack; & more adequate for effective retaliation. It will also even more importantly enable us to add to our missiles certain penetration aids & decoys, and to make those missiles effective at high altitude detonations, in order to render ineffective any anti-missile or interceptor system an enemy might some day develop. 09:28:25 Whenever possible, these development tests will be held underground. But the larger explosions can only be tested in the atmosphere. And while our technology in smaller weapons is unmatched we now know that the Soviets have made major gains in developing larger weapons of low-weight & high explosive content: of 1 to 5 megatons & upward. Fourteen of their tests last fall were in this category, for a total of 30 such tests over the years. The United States on the other hand had conducted, prior to the moratorium, a total of only 20 tests within this megaton range. While we will be conducting far fewer tests than the Soviets, w/ far less fallout, there will still be those in other countries who will urge us to refrain from testing at all. Perhaps they forget that this country long refrained from testing, and sought to ban all tests, while the Soviets were secretly preparing new explosions. Perhaps they forget the Soviet threats of last autumn & their arbitrary rejection of all appeals & proposals, from both the United States & the United Nations. Continued... Diplomacy; Cold War; Broken Test Ban Agreements; Atmospheric Nuclear Testing Resumption; NOTE: Any continuous 15 minutes of entire speech 09:10:45 - 09:42:21 sold at per reel rate. NOTE: FOR ORDERING See: www.footagefarm.co.uk or contact us at: Info@Footagefarm.co.uk

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