Word: thermonuclear
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...peril to the U.S., says the report, lies in the meeting of two separate dangers. These are 1) the Communist threat, striving with a combination of missile rattling and peace propaganda to dominate the U.S. and the free world; 2) the city-killing potential of new thermonuclear weapons...
...that might leave the West "virtually defenseless before the greatly superior weight of Russian conventional arms." He pointed out that every government since 1947, both Labor and Tory, had approved the basing of U.S. bombers in the United Kingdom for mutual defense. As to the new plan to install thermonuclear missiles in Britain-"If bases for nuclear rockets are the up-to-date equivalent for bomb-carrying planes, then our whole defense policy, our whole strategy, becomes meaningless unless we have these bases." Said Macmillan: "We have at least gained this-that we have such an even balance of power...
...force; if he does not, he will be considered an inadequate service chief. Too often the J.C.S. result is a standoff, with decisions deferred or compromised. For example. Air Force doctrine holds that any aircraft carrier would be a sitting duck in a war of missiles and thermonuclear bombs. U.S. Navy doctrine holds that the mobility of aircraft carriers gives them an advantage over land air bases. Result: billions are committed to both systems, even though Navy bombers and Air Force bombers are both ways of waging similar sorts of strategic nuclear war-each requiring distinct and gigantic support systems...
Snark, winged, air-breathing and subtonic, will fly five to seven hours to target as opposed to 15 to 30 minutes for the intercontinental ballistic missiles still under development. But Snark can carry thermonuclear warhead accurately to target at 5,000 milerange. And Snark, added or not with countermeasures to confuse enemy radar, is also a highly promising decoy weapon to lure enemy defenders away from main strike forces delivering the decisive blows elsewhere...
...long-range, thermonuclear ballistic missile is an "ultimate" weapon in only one sense: defense against it is so difficult that it may prove impossible. But if adequate defense is ever achieved, missiles can learn new tricks and become "ultimate" again...