moon landing Flashcards
US govt. spending on technological research 1953 vs. 1960 vs. 1970
1953 - $13bn
1960 - $47bn
1970 - $76bn
% of research spending on defence 1953 vs. 1970
1953 - 85%
1970 - 55%
fell as medical research took off in the 60s
reasons for high military spending
-cold war rivalry: US determined to have military advantage in possible conflict
-economy: economic boom provided resources for rapid tech advance. corporations could obtain economies of scale.
-military industrial complex
-public support: fear of cold war + consumer applications of military tech e.g. air travel, engines
first nuclear bombs
fat man and little boy, developed on manhatten project and used on hiroshima and nagasaki by truman in aug 1945
first soviet nuclear bomb
detonated 1949
hydrogen bomb
truman approved H-bomb project after soviet detonation in 1949. 1,000 times more powerful than bombs dropped on japan
first american H-bomb
detonated 1952
first soviet H-bomb
detonated 1953
B-52 stratofortress
bomber developed by americans to carry nuclear weapons. could fly 6,000 miles
no. of american bombers by 1981 that could carry nukes
4,000
operation paperclip
US military tried to get control of the german rocket program after ww2. brought german aerospace engineers e.g. werner von braun (developer of v1 and v2 rockets) to work on their missile programme. soviets did the same
pershing rocket
developed in early 1960s to replace Snark and Corporal classes. medium range missile with range up to 650km. mainly stationed in NATO countries in europe where it could hit any major russian city west of the urals
ICBMs
Intercontinental ballistic missiles: first ones tested in 1958.
-Atlas had a range of 8,000 km and could hit USSR from US
no. of american ICBMs by 1981
8,000
minuteman missile
could be fired from underground, intended to survive soviet first strike. range of 1,600 km
polaris missiles
could be fired from submarine, range of up to 4,500 km.
retaliatory weapon, if the soviets attacked and destroyed US defences
MAD
by 1960s USSR and US accepted doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD). each had so many nukes that if either side attacked, they would both be wiped out
DEW
distant early warning system: line of radar stations across canada and alaska, designed to scan for missiles coming from across arctic circle
AWACS
airborne warning and control system: radar system in planes that were in the air 24 hours a day
SAMOS
satellite and missile observation system: first of US’s spy satellites, launched in 1960
advancements in conventional weapons
-supersonic fighter jets equipped with air to air missiles
-U-2 spy planes
-surface to air missiles
-aircraft carriers
-helicopter gunships
NORAD
in charge of US defence systems + constantly monitored them for signs of soviet attack
-north american aerospace defence command
US defence system malfunctions
9 Nov 1979, 4 command centres of the US nuke arsenal received data that soviets had launched nuclear attack. US prepared for retaliatory strike however alarm cancelled as no actual strike detected. caused by malfunction in training software
US vs USSR conventional forces
USSR had larger force, but US had better tech