Defense: Ace in the Hole

U.S. defense planning rests on the assumption that all-out war, if it comes, will begin with a Soviet nuclear attack against U.S. missile and bomber bases. To deter the Russians from launching such an attack, the U.S. needs a tough, reliable, intercontinental ballistic missile that can be mass produced, buried in the ground, and fired within 15 minutes of the instant that enemy rockets first flash onto the radar screens of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System in Alaska and Greenland. It is now convincingly clear that the Air Force has developed...

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