SALT 1

• SALT stands for Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty and SALT 1 was the first of two SALTs
• Signed May 1972
• Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty stated that ABMs were only allowed at two sites - 100 missiles max in each
• Interim Treaty - USA was allowed 1,054 ICBMs (inter continental ballistic missiles) and 740 SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles); USSR was allowed 1,618 ICBMs and 740 SLBMs
• The Basic Principles Agreement - rules for conducting nuclear war such as banning warheads on seabed. Steps set out for avoiding nuclear war such as exercising restraint when needed
• Consequently, it became unlikely that this signed bit of paper would have actually avoided nuclear war
• Consequently, despite the imposed restrictions, both sides had enough nuclear weapons to destroy the planet several times over
• Consequently, it did not cover the latest technology such as multiple independent targeted re-entry vehicles (MIRVs)
• Consequently, the USA and the USSR could demonstrate publicly better relations
• Consequently, Nixon visited Brezhnev in Moscow and Brezhnev visited Washington in 1973, setting up negotiations for SALT 2 in 1974