Season 7 Episode 6 - Dat Missile Gap

Hacking the Gibson

During the Cold War, information about the enemy's nuclear arsenal was a top priority for intelligence operations. Force deployment, base construction, and untold billions of dollars in weapons development all turned on how many nukes each side had pointed at the other. So what did military, intelligence, and political officials do when they couldn’t be sure of those all-important numbers? They made guesses that ranged from educated to outright exaggerated. This week, we’re talking about just how wrong our tally of the tools of armageddon actually was.