World Notes Soviet Union

Its NATO code is Blackjack, and like the card game whose name it shares, the Soviet bomber has kept everyone guessing. The Pentagon has warned for years about its imminent deployment, predicting that the long-range supersonic plane, with its ability to fly at low altitudes, will allow Soviet bombers to strike with deadly accuracy at the U.S. and return to a Soviet base without refueling. Last week a study released by Norway's Foreign Policy Research Institute indicated that Blackjack may soon be in business.

The report said the Soviets are building a 2.9-mile-long airstrip -- the length the Blackjack would require -- on the remote Kola Peninsula, which borders Norway. The new bomber, which would fly too low to be vulnerable to a space-based defense system, may be part of the Soviet answer to the Reagan Administration's Strategic Defense Initiative.