War by Microcomputer

Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle intrigued a congressional committee by showing how a modified Apple II computer could be used to direct missile firing and communications. The Reagan Administration has been trying to crack down on the export of powerful computers to the Soviet Union, and last December Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger showed off just such a machine, a VAX by Digital Equipment, that had been halted as it was about to be shipped. Now the U.S. is trying to stop the export of some microcomputers too.

In an updating of export guidelines, the U.S., Japan and their NATO allies have agreed to block the shipment of sophisticated or rugged microcomputers like the IBM PC-XT that could stand up to battlefield conditions. Because of pressure from U.S. allies, the new limitations, however, do not attempt an unrealistic embargo of the Apple II and other more fragile or less powerful machines. Said one Pentagon official: "We know that the Soviet plan includes acquisition of microcomputers from the West. Now we can slow them down."