Citing unnamed military officials, the newspaper said the proposal has set off a complex debate about whether this program for strengthening the military's conventional capacity could increase the risks of accidental nuclear confrontation.

The Pentagon plan calls for deploying a non-nuclear version of the submarine-launched Trident II missile that could be used to attack terrorist camps, enemy missile sites, suspected caches of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons and other potentially urgent threats, the report said.

If fielded, it would be the only non-nuclear weapon designed for rapid strikes against targets thousands of miles away and would add to the president's options when considering a pre-emptive attack, The Times pointed out.

General James Cartwright, head of the US Strategic Command, said the system would enhance the Pentagon's ability to "pre-empt conventionally" and precisely while limiting the "collateral damage," the paper reported.

The program would cost an estimated half a billion dollars over five years, and the Pentagon is seeking 127 million dollars in its current spending request to Congress.

But the plan has run into resistance from lawmakers who are concerned that it may increase the risk of an accidental nuclear confrontation.

Both non-nuclear and nuclear-tipped variants of the Trident II missile would be loaded on the same submarines under the Pentagon plan, the report said.

"There is great concern this could be destabilizing in terms of deterrence and nuclear policy," The Times quotes Senator Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, as saying. "It would be hard to determine if a missile coming out a Trident submarine is conventional or nuclear."

Reflecting the worry that Russia and other nations might misinterpret the launch of a non-nuclear Trident as the opening salvo in a nuclear barrage, lawmakers have insisted that the Bush administration present a plan to minimize that risk before the new weapon is manufactured and deployed, the paper said.

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