▁reference ▁to ▁the ▁SS - 2 0 ▁featuring ▁" sign ific ant ▁improvements ▁over ▁previous ▁systems ▁in ▁providing ▁greater ▁accuracy , ▁more ▁mob ility , ▁and ▁greater ▁range , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁having ▁multiple ▁war head s ". ▁The ▁minister s ▁also ▁attributed ▁the ▁alter ed ▁situation ▁to ▁the ▁deployment ▁of ▁the ▁Soviet ▁T up ole v ▁Tu - 2 2 M ▁strateg ic ▁bom ber , ▁which ▁they ▁believed ▁to ▁display ▁" m uch ▁greater ▁performance " ▁than ▁its ▁prede cess ors . ▁Furthermore , ▁the ▁minister s ▁expressed ▁concern ▁that ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union ▁had ▁gained ▁an ▁advantage ▁over ▁NAT O ▁in ▁" Long - Range ▁Theater ▁N uc lear ▁Forces " ▁( L RT NF ), ▁and ▁also ▁significantly ▁increased ▁short - range ▁the ater ▁nuclear ▁capacity . ▁To ▁address ▁these ▁develop ments , ▁the ▁minister s ▁adopted ▁two ▁policy ▁" tra cks ". ▁One ▁thousand ▁the ater ▁nuclear ▁war head s , ▁out ▁of ▁ 7 , 4 0 0 ▁such ▁war head s , ▁would ▁be ▁removed ▁from ▁Europe ▁and ▁the ▁US ▁would ▁purs ue ▁bil ater al ▁negoti ations ▁with ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union ▁intended ▁to ▁limit ▁the ater ▁nuclear ▁forces . ▁Should ▁these ▁negoti ations ▁fail , ▁NAT O ▁would ▁modern ize ▁its ▁own ▁L RT NF , ▁or ▁intermediate - range ▁nuclear ▁forces ▁( INF ), ▁by ▁replacing ▁US ▁Pers hing ▁ 1 a ▁miss iles ▁with ▁ 1 0 8 ▁Pers hing ▁II ▁launch ers ▁in ▁West ▁Germany ▁and ▁deploy ing ▁ 4 6 4 ▁B