News In Brief

Soviets testing new missiles to parry NATO installations

The Soviet Union is testing long-range cruise missiles to counter new rockets being installed by NATO in Western Europe, the Communist Party newspaper Pravda said Tuesday. It said Moscow will never allow the United States to gain the upper hand militarily.

A Western diplomat said this confirmed what Western experts had long suspected - that the Soviets had been developing long-range missiles. He said the weapon reportedly being tested ''would be a better version than what they have now,'' but added, ''I wouldn't say this is a new threat.''