How did the inventions gave one side an advantage over the other?
Although nuclear weapons were never actually used against each other during the Cold War, they were stockpiled in extremely large numbers by both the US and the USSR. As both had thousands of nuclear weapons-- for example the US had 8000 ICBMs, and the Soviet Union had 7000 in 1981-- that were never used, they didn’t give either side a direct advantage. However, possessing nuclear weapons showed that you were a powerful nation: by 1961, there were enough bombs to destroy the world. Both sides used nuclear weapons as intimidation: for example, the Soviet’s detonation of Tsar Bomba in 1961, which wouldn’t have been used in a war scenario and was thought to be purely a gesture of intimidation. So, the inventions did give both sides indirect advantages. Another example of this is the ICBM that the USSR successfully tested before the US: this technology was used to launch a satellite into space, contributing to their lead in the Space Race. (Trueman) |
"It would be our policy to use nuclear weapons wherever we felt it necessary to protect our forces and achieve our objectives."
Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense 1961-1968
The USSR's inventions during the nuclear arms race
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The USA's inventions during the nuclear arms race
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One of the USSR's inventions that was influenced by the US
The first atomic bomb the Soviets developed was heavily influenced by the US’ Fat Man bomb (which was dropped over Nagasaki in 1945). In fact, it was almost a copy: the replica was developed after spies at the Manhattan Project provided the Soviets with information (Atomic Archive) that would allow them to detonate it on August 29, 1949, in Kazakhstan-- several years earlier than the Americans thought they would be. (Atomic Heritage Foundation) |
One American invention that was influenced by the USSR
The development of the Minuteman Missiles was indirectly influenced by the invention of ICBMs by the USSR. When Sputnik was launched in 1957, the threat of the same technology being used to bomb the US caused a crisis that led to money being invested in education as well as the development of more weapons: in particular, the Minuteman Missile, which was a type of ICBM. From 1957 onwards, billions of dollars went towards its development. So even though the US did not directly ‘copy’ the USSR’s invention, the Minuteman Missile was funded and developed with such urgency because of the USSR’s successful ICBM technology. (National Park Service) |
"We could only solve our problems by cooperating with other countries. It would have been paradoxical not to cooperate. And therefore we needed to put an end to the Iron Curtain, to change the nature of international relations, to rid them of ideological confrontation, and particularly to end the arms race."
Mikhail Gorbachev