Titan I: Successfully Launched The arms race was an aspect of the cold war, in which the
United States and the Soviet Union competed to have a greater military force. Financial resources and the greatest scientific minds were being used to develop weapons in both the U.S and Soviet Union. For the first time in history the U.S moved away from its policy of reducing arms during peacetime, and began stock piling weapons. On February 6, 1959 the United States successfully test-fired the Titan 1 intercontinental ballistic missile, that was capable of delivering 6 megatons to a target 8,000 miles away. The Titan made it able for the U.S to launch missiles from home that were able to hit Eastern Europe, and the Western and Eastern areas of the Soviet Union. By May, the first underground silos which housed the Titan missiles, were constructed in various parts of the country, making the possibility of nuclear war between the two nations more likely. The development of the Titan missile effected the cold war relations between both nations as they raced for military superiority. By the 1960's both sides had adopted the defense policy of MAD, mutually assured destruction, which meant if either side attacked both sides would not survive. |
This video shows the success launch of the Titan 1 intercontinental ballistic missile, on February 6th, 1959.
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