CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

CONTENTS• Introduction• Balance OF Power• Missiles Reported• Responses• Results• References

INTRODUCTION• The Cuban missile crisis—known as the October Crisis or The Missile Scare in Cuba and the Caribbean Crisis in the former

USSR—was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other side.

• The crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict and is also the first documented instance of mutual assured destruction (MAD) being discussed as a determining factor in a major international arms agreement.

• After the US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy, aimed at Moscow, and the failed US attempt to overthrow the Cuban regime, in May 1962 Nikita Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt.

• These preparations were noticed by the Defense Intelligence Agency,which on October 14 tasked an Air Force-operated U-2 aircraft with scanning the suspected areas in Cuba, securing clear photographic evidence of medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) on the ground.

• The United States considered attacking Cuba via air and sea, but decided on a military blockade instead, calling it a "quarantine" for legal and other reasons.

BALANCE OF POWER• When Kennedy ran for president in 1960, one of his key election issues was an alleged "missile gap" with the Soviets

leading. In fact, the United States led the Soviets by a wide margin that would only increase.

• In 1961, the Soviets had only four intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

• The United States, on the other hand, had 170 ICBMs and was quickly building more.

• It also had eight George Washington- and Ethan Allen-class ballistic missile submarines with the capability to launch 16 Polaris missiles each, with a range of 1,400 miles (2,300 km).

• Khrushchev increased the perception of a missile gap when he loudly boasted to the world that the USSR was building missiles "like sausages" whose numbers and capabilities actually were nowhere close to his assertions. Soviet Union did have medium-range ballistic missiles in quantity, about 700 of them.

• Overall, the United States had a very considerable advantage in total number of nuclear warheads at the time and, more importantly, in all the technologies needed to deliver them accurately.

• The United States also led in missile defensive capabilities, Naval and Air power; but the USSR enjoyed a two-to-one advantage in conventional ground forces, much more pronounced in field guns and tanks (particularly in the European theater).

MISSILES REPORTED• The missiles in Cuba allowed the Soviets to effectively target the majority of the continental United States.

• The planned arsenal was forty launchers.

• The Cuban populace readily noticed the arrival and deployment of the missiles and hundreds of reports reached Miami. US intelligence received countless reports, many of dubious quality or even laughable, and most of which could be dismissed as describing defensive missiles.

• Only five reports bothered the analysts.

• They described large trucks passing through towns at night carrying very long canvas-covered cylindrical objects that could not make turns through towns without backing up and maneuvering.

• Defensive missiles could make these turns.

• These reports could not be satisfactorily dismissed.

• There was also a very sensitive source, which had to be protected at all costs: Oleg Penkovsky, a double agent in the GRU working for CIA and MI6 reported the Soviet plans and even provided details of the missile placements, which were eventually verified by U-2 flights.

RESPONSES• Do nothing: American vulnerability to Soviet missiles was not new. Newly placed missiles in Cuba made little

strategic difference in the military balance of power.

• Diplomacy: Use diplomatic pressure to get the Soviet Union to remove the missiles.

• Warning: Send a message to Castro to warn him of the grave danger he and Cuba were in.

• Blockade: Use the US Navy to block any missiles from arriving in Cuba.

• Air strike: Use the US Air Force to attack all known missile sites.

• Invasion: Full force invasion of Cuba and overthrow of Castro.

RESULTS• Withdrawal of Soviet Union's nuclear missiles from Cuba.

• Withdrawal of United States' nuclear missiles from Turkey.

• Agreement with the Soviet Union that the United States would never invade Cuba without direct provocation.

• Creation of a nuclear hotline between the United States and the Soviet Union.

REFERENCES

• http://www.jfklancer.com/photos/newphotos/cuba_missile_map.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Location_of_Navy_and_Soviet_ships_during_the_Cuban_Missile_Crisis.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_missile_crisis

• http://www.nysun.com/pics/7155.jpg

• http://haverfordmwh.pbworks.com/f/1306197919/COLDcubanmissile.JPG

• https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/CubaMap1b_w.jpg/image.jpg

• http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/10/15/1350324465025/Cuban-missile-crisis-defe-008.jpg

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/U-2_photo_during_Cuban_Missile_Crisis.jpg

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