Missile gap

The missile gap was the perceived discrepancy between the number and power of the weapons in the USSR and US ballistic missile arsenals during the Cold War.

Related Topics:
USSR - US - Ballistic missile - Arsenal - Cold War

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The Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 on the 4 October, 1957 highlighted the technological achievements of the Russians and sparked some worrying questions for politicians and the general public. Not only did it start the space race but also an arms race. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the first use of the term from The Economist article on 13 June, 1959: "The Air Force gets an additional $170 million to help close the 'missile gap'." The problem with the term is shown in the dictionary's only other quote, merely three years later, from the Listener, 19 April, 1962: "The passages on the 'missile gap' are a little dated, since Mr Kennedy has now told us that it scarcely ever existed."

Related Topics:
Sputnik 1 - 4 October - 1957 - Space race - Arms race - Oxford English Dictionary - The Economist - 13 June - 1959 - Listener - 19 April - 1962

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John F. Kennedy is particularly connected with the phrase as he used it frequently during the 1960 American presidential election campaign to attack the Republicans for their supposed complacency on the subject of Russian ICBMs. Both countries had been developing missile technologies since the second world war often with the assistance of German scientists gained as a result of initiatives such as Operation Paperclip. The Russian launch of Sputnik 1 was simply the most obvious use of the missile technology compared to the stocks of military missiles both sides already had. The Russians also had concentrated mainly on larger, long distance ICBMs more suited for deployment to space whereas the Americans possessed many more smaller, short-range IRBMs. These were often deployed in Europe closer to Russia then the Russians could manage to get to the continental United States.

Related Topics:
John F. Kennedy - 1960 American presidential election - ICBM - Second world war - German - Operation Paperclip - IRBM - Europe

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Warnings and calls to address imbalances between the fighting capabilities of two forces are not new, a "bomber gap" had exercised political concerns a few years previously. What was different about the missile gap was the fear that a distant country could strike without warning from far away with little damage to themselves. Concerns about missile gaps and similar fears, such as Nuclear proliferation, continue, with most recently the aggressive missile testing between India and Pakistan.

Related Topics:
Nuclear proliferation - India - Pakistan

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The whole idea of a missile gap was parodied in the 1964 film ' in which the president is warned against allowing a "mine shaft gap" to develop. Not a new technical development but a place to hide when the bombs start falling.

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