History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense Volume II: 1956-1972

This is the second of two volumes on the history of strategic air and ballistic missile defense from 1945 to 1972. It covers the 1955-1972 portion of the larger period, and is organized into five interrelated and progressively more detailed chapters. Chapter I provides a comparison of U.S. and Soviet strategies, Chapters II and III deal with U.S. strategy and Soviet strategy, while Chapters IV and V cover U.S. systems and Soviet systems. During this period, U.S. and Soviet perceptions of strategic air and missile defense requirements were strongly influenced by (1) science and technology, (2) uncertainties in the future environment as to the continuity of the other's policies and nuclear strategies, and (3) the growing wish to move toward some limitations on arms. (Originally published by the Army Center for Military History)