44' The r980s started with a serious questioning of the sAr,T rr agreement signedin June 1979' The pranned negotiations- on 'ALT rrr did not begin. Biraterar andtrilateral negotiations among the nuclear powers, ihcluding negotiations onchemlcal neapons, a conprehensive test-ban treaty, and conventional-arrns transferswere suspended' libgotiations at vienna on the nutual reduction of arrned forces andar[Ements in Central Europe continued to remain boggeat down for several years. Inthe framework of the continuing process of the fiersinki conference on security and co-oPeration and securiEy rn rurope, the question of convening a conference onconfidence-building ancl security rneasures and disarmameht in &rrope lras alsoconsidered with as yet no concrusive outcone. one set of negotiatl.ns diar getunder Itay in tlovenber 1981, nanely, on mediurn-range nuclear irmaments in &lrope,but it vras too earry to assess thei.r outcome without conplementary negotiationsabout limitations and reductions of strategic nucrear neaponry, the ratter havingstarted only ln June 1992. The committee on oisarmanent, the singre nurtrrateralnegotiating body in the field of disarnament, has been unable to even conmence ::::ti:!1"T" ol qr: ep-prioriry iten€ of disarnanenr, parricularly nucleardlsa'*anent. on the itens that have been a subject of negotiationi, ttre committeehas yet to achieve concrete results. 45' As regards conventionar weapons deverotrmencs, the 1977 report nentioned thefact that these were far-reaching. conventionar vreapons systens unde.rentcontinual. and rapid refinenent in terns of slze, speed, propulsion, firelrower,accuracy and so forth. sophisticated weaponry, including =up.a"orri" aircraft,becane corunonplace in the armories of aevefop-ei, as well as less developed,countrles. These deveropments continued unabated through the perioal unier review.The only achievement in the field of llmiting conventional,.r-pons rras the A/ 37 / 386 Engl ish Annex Page 23 adoption' in 1980, of the convention on Prohibition or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to be E(cessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, which, i.n view of tts lirnited scope, hag some hulanitarian value rather lhan being a measure of disarnanent' Even after adjusting for inflation, the unit costs of sophisticated weaPonry have continued to soar. Be tween 1977 anal 1980' the research' developlent' testing and evaluation costs of soPhlsticated nissile guided-weapon systems respondlng to the heat and sound of their targets, in some cases, increased by 30 to 50 per cent' - The unit cost per ton of sone tyPes of tanks, after adjusting for inflation' had- sho$n an increase by a factor of 2 to 3 betvteen 1960 antt l98O' In addition' technological advances in several areas were conbined tO produce new tyPes of conventional weapons with potentially far-reaching military an'l potitical lmplications' The technologicat thrust on conventional-weapons Production field throughout the 1960s and I970s has been to produce ngenerations" and "families" of weapons whlch nove perllously close to blurring the bortlerline betneen conventional and nuclear
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing international relations and disarmament, specifically the lack of progress in reducing conventional and nuclear weapons, as well as the development of new technologies that blur the line between conventional and nuclear weapons. It also mentions the impact of these developments on international relations and the lack of concrete results in disarmament negotiations.

**Category**
Science and Technology, International Relations