Word: icbms
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...ICBM-men are confident that these problems can be licked, but they do not say just how. One possibility is to make the missile slow down as much as possible when it is in the thin upper air, where the heating effect is still moderate. When it hits thick air, it will therefore be moving more slowly and have a better chance of getting through to the target. Another method, probably the most important one, is to keep heat from penetrating more than the skin of the missile. A third possibility, exploding the warhead while many miles above the surface...
Equations of War. The ICBM is the nearest thing to an "ultimate weapon," complete with delivery system, that has ever been conceived. From U.S.-controlled territory, it could reach any part of the world, wreck the biggest city by blast and heat. Then the radioactive byproducts, drifting with the wind, could turn an area the size of many nations into a silent wilderness. An enemy's version of ICBM could do the same to any part...
...ICBM will be comparatively cheap. After the enormous development costs are paid, each missile will cost, not counting the warhead, about $1,000,000. (A B-52 bomber costs $8,000,000.) It will need few spare parts. It will not have to be flown to keep the crew in practice, thus eliminating "attrition" (crackups). Its launching site will be very cheap compared with the cost of a modern bomber base. Missiles can be dispersed widely, a few or one to each launching site. They can be hidden to a considerable extent, they are potentially mobile, they...
...Ball. Will the ICBMs work, and when will they be ready? Most missile experts seem to believe that the task of developing them is not impossible, but that the timetable is uncertain. It may be five or even ten years, say the pessimists. Meanwhile, the U.S. must keep itself able to ward off more conventional attacks on its territory, and also be able to retaliate if an attack comes. Even high Air Force officers who have most faith in the ICBM feel that the U.S. must push conventional programs, both offensive and defensive, almost as if the ICBM were impossible...
...will use them as we get them, and we will get them when they are effective and reliable." LeMay's mission is to be ready for instant, effective action. He wants a continuous supply of weapons that will make such action possible, including lesser missiles than the ICBM...