But the CIA report said that switching the missiles to combat status "would not necessarily result in an unauthorized missile launch" because of safeguards, including codes that control locks on weapons and supply target data to the missile.

The Times said the report was produced in March after warnings by Russian Defense Minister Igor Rodionov that control systems for Russia's nuclear weapons were deteriorating rapidly and the armed forces were partially blinded by a shortage of spy satellites.

Unless the military got more money, "the system could fall apart" for controlling the nuclear arsenal, Rodionov said in February.

Rodionov was to arrive in Washington Monday and meet Tuesday with Defense Secretary William Cohen.

In Moscow, a Defense Ministry duty officer declined comment Monday except to note there havei been similar news reports, including one Monday by the military daily Krasnaya Zvezda. The military publication carried an item signed by Maj. Gen. Vitaly Denisyuk, chief of the Russian Strategic Nuclear Force's Central Command post.

"Since I became a duty officer at the Central Command post in 1985 . . . there have been no cases of spontaneous switching to combat mode at any of the Strategic Nuclear Force command posts," Den-is-yuk wrote.

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But, he added, "Recently, the funding of planned replacements of combat control systems at control stations has been disrupted. If this tendency continues, a moment will come when the combat control systems' reliability will stop to meet the requirements."

The CIA rated the chance of unauthorized nuclear missile launch as low under "normal circumstances" because "many safeguards" remain.

"However, if that system and its safeguards continue to degrade because of a lack of funding and maintenance, our concern will increase, especially if a crisis arose that splintered the armed forces," the report said.

The newspaper said a CIA spokesman had no comment on the report.

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