National Affairs: NATO's New Gun

The Pentagon announced last week that within a month the 868th Field Artillery Battalion would be on its way to Europe, to be assigned to the NATO forces. Its armament: six of the Army's new 85-ton, 280-mm. cannons, designed for firing atomic projectiles. Five more atomic battalions will follow within a year, giving General Alfred Gruenther and his SHAPE high command a weapon which might, if the circumstances were ideal, neutralize the huge numerical superiority of Russian ground forces.

Unlike the atom bomb, atomic artillery is not meant to be used against set targets known in advance. The enemy cannot disperse his...

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