The idea of ICBMs began way back during World War Two in Nazi Germany under German scientist Wernher von Braun. They were able to create the V-2 rocket that functioned properly. However, the rocket wasn't able to cause the mass destruction that the Germans had envisioned. But just the fact that the Germans were able to construct such a powerful weapon represented a breakthrough in missile technology and introduced a new factor for forces to deal with during wartime. After the war ended both of the superpowers began developing these missiles. The Soviets made their successful R-7 rocket which allowed for the Sputnik to be launched. On the other hand, the United States created its Atlas rocket after multiple failures. Both the countries went on to create hundreds of these weapons which brought up the theory of mutually assured destruction. Essentially, it means that in the case of nuclear war both sides would be annihilated. As for the technical facts of these ICBMs, the rockets had a range of nearly 3500 miles. To put that range and speed into perspective it would only take these rockets 30 minutes to hit Moscow from New York. The point is that these weapons are extremely lethal and that one mistake can spark a conflict that would end life as we know it. It almost happened with the Cuban Missile Crisis but we were lucky that both sides called off the attack.https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Intercontinental_ballistic_missile
https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1955.html
I found this post over the history of the invention of the technology very interesting. Something else I looked into was the Russia creation and announcement of their ICBMs. Upon creation, the Soviet Union announced that they had the capability to fire a missile to "any part of the world". This sparked fear among Americans and was one of the main points leading to the missile gap fear. This later led to major campaigning efforts by Kennedy to close the missile gap and out produce the Soviet Union, even though they were ahead.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/russia-tests-an-intercontinental-ballistic-missile
It is interesting that these ICBMs go back to Nazi Germany, even though they were not able to make them successfully. It is worth thinking about what would have happened if the Nazis successfully launched these weapons, the playing field would have been drastically changed. Also, it is amazing to think that weapons from the 1950s led to the US-Russia conflict even to this day.
ReplyDeleteI was really interested in how defense for ICBMs were developed. I looked it up, and found a couple of programs that were really interesting. The US tried a couple of programs, including Project Nike, Project Defender, and the Sentinel Program. Project Nike was a plan to shoot incoming missiles using a ground missile. Originally, it was meant for incoming bomber planes, so it was thought to be more effective. However, they realized that intercepting a nuke would lead to the detonation of the nuke above US soil. Project Defender was an extremely interesting project that was scrapped due to technology limitations. The plan was to have orbiting space stations that would shoot down any ICBMs rising into space, but was abandoned. The Sentinel Program was implemented, which was just a defense system that relied on both long range and short range missiles to intercept nukes earlier.
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2012/ph241/theodosis2/
The effects of the cold war can clearly be seen today. It's insane to think about the thousands of nukes that the U.S. had and still has today. It seems hugely unnecessary and scary at the same time that we stockpile enough weapons to literally destroy the world. As of 2019, we have an estimated 3800 nukes stockpiled. However, steps are being taken to increase nuclear disarmament. In 1991, the START 1 was signed between the U.S. and Russia which would place limits on bombings and nuclear possessions on both sides. Then, in 2011, President Obama signed the New START treaty into action which would further limit the amount of nuclear weapons on both sides. The stats can be found below.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.state.gov/new-start/
Other Sources:
https://fas.org/issues/nuclear-weapons/status-world-nuclear-forces/
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/start1
This post was very informative, and it is good that both sides came to their senses during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Before this near catastrophe, people thought that nuclear war was a feasible idea and would be effective. However, this near avoidance of both the Soviet Union and United States blowing each other to smithereens made the countries realize that they wanted to avoid it at all costs. They knew then that if one of them decided to use nuclear force, it would be pointless, because the other side would strike back in the exact same fashion.
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