A Brief History
On December 17, 1957, the United States successfully launched their first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The SM -65 Atlas became operational in September of 1959, closely following the Soviet R-7 Semyorka that had become operational in February of that year.
Digging Deeper
With the advent of these ICBMs, either the US or USSR could launch an unstoppable fleet of nuclear bombs at each other anywhere on the Earth.
The stunning numbers of nuclear tipped missiles and nuclear warheads fielded by the two main Cold War powers included a maximum of 32,000 nuclear warheads by the US in 1966, though not all mounted on ICBMs. The Soviet number of nuclear warheads of all types peaked in 1986 at 45,000. For most of the Cold War the USSR had 1400 ICBMs, while the US had 1200.
The later invention of solid fuel ICBMs gave each country the ability to launch nuclear missiles almost immediately as opposed to waiting to fuel liquid fueled missiles. Additionally, the development of multiple warhead missiles multiplied the nuclear threat, as did the advent of submarine launched ballistic missiles and long-range cruise missiles.
Nuclear arms reduction treaties have reduced the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the US, but now several other countries boast nuclear arsenals and the saber rattling associated with the Russia-Ukraine War has again raised the immediate possibility of using nuclear weapons, casting an evil shadow over the world.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Will there be a nuclear war in your lifetime?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Stine, Harry. ICBM: The Making of the Weapon That Changed the World. Crown, 1991.
Unknown. ICBM abbreviations and acronyms. University of Michigan Library, 1991.
