COLD WAR IMPROVED BALANCE ANY SURPRISES AT NATO'S YEAR-END MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE IN 
PARIS WERE PURELY ACCIDENTAL . AN ELEVATOR GOT STUCK IN THE 
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ALLIANCE, BRIEFLY TRAPPING A DOZEN PHOTOGRAPHERS . THEN 
U.S . DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT S . MCNAMARA NARROWLY MISSED SUDDEN 
DEATH WHEN THE FOUR-ENGINE JET CARRYING HIM FROM ORLY AIRPORT TO 
SAIGON BRAKED TO A JOLTING STOP ON THE RUNWAY, JUST IN 
TIME TO AVOID COLLISION WITH AN INCOMING PLANE . AS FOR 
THE MEETING OF NATO'S DEFENSE, FINANCE AND FOREIGN MINISTERS, IT WENT 
SO SMOOTHLY THAT THE SESSION ADJOURNED AFTER ONLY TWO DAYS, A 
DAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE . GENTLE REMINDER . MCNAMARA, IMPRESSIVE AS 
USUAL, TICKED OFF A FEW AWESOME FACTS OF U.S . NUCLEAR 
POWER: MORE THAN 2,000 ATOMIC WARHEADS READY IN CASE OF WAR, 
A 100 PER CENT INCREASE IN TWO YEARS; 500 SAC BOMBERS 
AND 500 INTERCONTINENTAL MISSILES, WITH 1,000 MORE MISSILES BY 1966; A 
NEW 155-MM . NUCLEAR HOWITZER TO BOOST THE POWER OF ARMY 
GROUND FORCES, WHOSE MANPOWER HAS BEEN RAISED BY 45 PER CENT 
WITHIN TWO YEARS . IN A GENTLE BUT UNMISTAKABLE REMINDER TO 
U.S . ALLIES, THE PENTAGON CHIEF SAID THAT UNLESS THEY HIKED 
THEIR OWN CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATO, CONGRESS AND U.S . PUBLIC OPINION 
WOULD BECOME INCREASINGLY RESTLESS OVER WASHINGTON'S FAR HEAVIER SHARE OF THE 
WESTERN DEFENSE BURDEN . IN A SENSE, THE FAMILIAR DISCUSSION OF 
MILITARY PREPAREDNESS WAS OVERSHADOWED BY NATO'S "GENERAL RECOGNITION," AS SECRETARY-GENERAL DIRK 
STIKKER SUMMED IT UP, "OF CHANGE IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF WORLD 
AFFAIRS ." BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY R. A . BUTLER ECHOED A 
COMMON VIEW THAT IN THE WAKE OFTHE KREMLIN'S RETREAT IN THE 
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, THE SOVIETS "HAVE RENOUNCED THE POLICY OF HIGH 
RISKS IN DEALING WITH THE WEST ." U.S . SECRETARY OF 
STATE DEAN RUSK, WHILE WARNING THAT THE COMMUNISTS COULD CREATE NEW 
DANGERS WITH UNPREDICTABLE AND PERILOUS SPEED, HINTED THAT THE ARRAY OF 
PROBLEMS FACING RUSSIA MAY MAKE IT FAR EASIER FOR THE WEST 
TO REACH AGREEMENTS WITH THE REDS . THE PROBLEMS INCLUDE THE 
DEEPLY SIGNIFICANT RIFT WITH RED CHINA, THE SLACKENING OF REVOLUTIONARY ARDOR 
AT HOME, AND THE SOVIET UNION'S GROWING DOMESTIC ECONOMIC TROUBLES . 
JANE'S VERDICT . NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV HAS STRETCHED HIS NATION'S RESOURCES DANGEROUSLY 
THIN, THE 1964 AND 1965 BUDGETS PUBLISHED IN MOSCOW LAST WEEK 
SHOWED SHARP CUTBACKS IN PLANS FOR SUCH KEY SECTORS OF HEAVY 
INDUSTRY AS STEEL AND ELECTRIC POWER IN ORDER TO DIVERT MASSIVE 
ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO THE LAGGING AGRICULTURE PROGRAM AND THE BACKWARD CHEMICAL 
INDUSTRY . PERHAPS THE LACK OF CAPITAL WAS ALSO THE CAUSE 
OF THE DECLINING RATE IN RUSSIA'S AIR AND SPACE SPECTACULARS . 
THE LATEST EDITION OF JANE'S ALL THE WORLD'S AIRCRAFT LISTS ONLY 
ONE NEW SOVIET PLANE FOR 1962 -- A HIGH ALTITUDE RECONNAISSANCE 
PLANE LIKE THE U-2 . JANE'S ALSO SUGGESTED THAT RUSSIA'S HIS 
AND HER SPACE-TWIN FLIGHTS "FAILED TO ACHIEVE ALL THEIR OBJECTIVES, WHICH 
MAY HAVE INCLUDED ORBITAL RENDEZVOUS," POINTED OUT THAT THE RUSSIANS, IN 
ADDITION, LOST CONTACT WITH THEIR ROCKET PROBE OF MARS . U.S 
. PROJECTS, ALTHOUGH BEGUN WITH MORE MODEST OBJECTIVES, FAR EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS, 
THE REPORT STATED, CITING MAJOR GORDON COOPER'S 22-ORBIT FLIGHT AND THE 
MARINER II PROBE THAT RELAYED A WEALTH OF DATA ABOUT VENUS 
. "WITH THE GREAT SATURN BOOSTER DUE TO BECOME OPERATIONAL IN 
1964-65," JANE'S ADDED, "THE SUGGESTION THAT AMERICA AND THE SOVIET UNION 
SHOULD WORK TOGETHER ON MAJOR PROJECTS LIKE LUNAR EXPLORATION IS BOTH 
TIMELY AND SENSIBLE NOW THAT THE PROSPECTIVE PARTNERS ARE ATTAINING A 
MEASURE OF EQUALITY . 