The new Soviet defense minister, committing himself to "radical, fundamental reforms" of the country's military, announced plans Friday to scale down the Red Army, turning it into a smaller, more professional force and halving the time served by conscripts.
Air Marshal Yevgeny I. Shaposhnikov, appointed after the collapse of last month's conservative coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, said that the Soviet armed forces would be cut by one-quarter to about 3 million troops as a result of the treaty reducing conventional forces in Europe.He told the press that the Soviet Union was eager to negotiate even sharper reductions but wanted to see similar cuts by its neighbors, particularly in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
"Reciprocity would make everything easier," he said, offering the West a long-sought opening to reduce the troop levels of the Soviet armed forces.