News In Brief

US says silos photographed in USSR might break test ban

US spacecraft have photographed Soviet missile silos that the White House believes will be used for launch tests of a new weapon in violation of the SALT II treaty, an industry magazine said Tuesday.

The magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology said administration officials believe the silos at Plesetsk will be used for testing the new SS-X-26 intercontinental ballistic missile.

It said this would be the third ICBM Moscow has tested, despite the fact that each side is limited to one by the unratified 1979 SALT II pact, which both governments have promised not to undercut.