PRESIDENTIAL REPORT CONCERNING DETARGETING OF RUSSIAN STRATEGIC MISSILES.

SEC. 1301. PRESIDENTIAL REPORT CONCERNING DETARGETING OF RUSSIAN STRATEGIC MISSILES. (a) Required Report.—Not later than January 1, 1998, the President shall submit to Congress a report concerning detargeting of Russian strategic missiles. The report shall address each of the following: (1) Whether a Russian ICBM that was formerly, but is no longer, targeted at a site in the United States would be automatically retargeted at a site in the United States in the event of the accidental launch of the missile. (2) Whether missile detargeting would prevent or significantly reduce the possibility of an unauthorized missile launch carried out by the Russian General Staff and prevent or significantly reduce the consequences to the United States of such a launch. (3) Whether missile detargeting would pose a significant obstacle to an unauthorized launch carried out by an operational level below the Russian General Staff if missile operators at such an operational level acquired missile launch codes or had the technical expertise to override missile launch codes. (4) The plausibility of an accidental launch of a Russian ICBM, compared to the possibility of a deliberate missile launch, authorized or unauthorized, resulting from Russian miscalculation, overreaction, or aggression. (5) The national security benefits derived from detargeting United States and Russian ICBMs. (6) The relative consequences to the United States of an unauthorized or accidental launch of a Russian ICBM that has been detargeted and one that has not been detargeted. (b) Definitions.—For purposes of subsection (a): (1) The term “Russian ICBM” means an intercontinental ballistic missile of the Russian Federation. (2) The term “accidental launch” means a missile launch resulting from mechanical failure.