Arms race

• The arms race


  Another area of superpower rivalry was in science and technology, particularly the deadly technology of nuclear weapons.
• The USA allocated 40 per cent of its defence spending to its air force, particularly the Strategic Air Command bombing force. This level of funding continued throughout the Cold War.
• Money was also pumped into developing stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
• There was a further concern in the USA when the Soviets developed the Bison jet bomber and the long range TU-95 bomber. These aircraft could hit American cities with nuclear weapons and this triggered off a panic known as a 'Bomber Gap'.
• The new US President Eisenhower ordered new B-52 bombers to close the gap with the USSR. In reality, there never was a bomber gap - the USA always had more nuclear bombers than the USSR - but, in the paranoid atmosphere of the time, threats were exaggerated rather than investigated.
• In December 1953 Eisenhower put forward a plan to the United Nations to share nuclear research and technology, but this was strongly opposed by many of his own supporters and the US military.
• Despite having been a general in the US army in the Second World War, Eisenhower had misgivings about what was called the military-industrial complex.
• Some commentators claimed that American industries and the top US military commanders were in league. The military wanted huge spending on weapons and other developments, while big business benefited from huge government contracts for the military.
• It is a debate which still continues today, and it was deeply controversial then.