In the spring, Chinese officials warned that if Mr. Bush went forward with the program Beijing would be forced to build up and modernize its own missile fleet.

In background briefings after the speech there was talk of such Buck Rogers weaponry as space-based lasers that could destroy the entire Soviet missile fleet.

Very soon, their missile fleet will be upgraded.

But some Administration experts now fear that downloading would give the Soviets a missile fleet that could be rapidly reloaded with warheads in a crisis, vastly increasing its size.

Mr. Rumsfeld was also told that China's nuclear missile fleet was not currently aimed at any other nation.

He would not discuss what kind of incentive he might offer China or Russia to accept the system, other than decreasing the size of America's own nuclear missile fleet.

Over time their vision became truly breathtaking: a single weapon capable of wiping out the entire Soviet missile fleet in one spectacular flash of light.

He joined the missile fleet of the Israeli Navy.

If they chose to respond in kind and attack the remaining Soviet missile fleet, there would be little to respond with if the Soviets immediately launched against US cities.

Clearly, the Pakistani government must have known something about how its new missile fleet materialized.