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Good evening, my fellow citizens. This government has promised, has maintained the closest surveillance, of the Soviet military build-up on the island of Cuba. Within the past week unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western hemisphere. John F Kennedy, 7 p.m. 22nd October
It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union. John F Kennedy
Salt II: The treaty sets limits on the use and proliferation of nuclear missiles. Cold War Armageddon s1e6, Discovery 2016
The Soviets are putting medium range Ballistic missiles into Cuba. Thirteen Days 2000 starring Kevin Costner & Bruce Greenwood & Steven Culp & Stephanie Romanov & Dylan Baker & Lucinda Jenney & Michael Fairman & Bill Smitrovich & Frank Wood & Ed Lauter & Kevin Conway & Tim Kelleher et al, director Roger Donaldson, Bundy to president et al
There is something immoral about abandoning your own judgement. ibid. JFK
We now count forty missiles. ibid. general
They want a war, Jack, and they’re arranging things to get one. ibid. Costner
‘I am prepared to wait for my answer till hell freezes over’. ibid. US delegate to UN
Eventually von Braun created a masterpiece: the world’s first ballistic missile. Secrets of War s1e11: Secret Weapons of the Third Reich, History 1998
This hydrogen bomb was the most powerful weapon ever built by man ... The world was on a potentially fatal collision course. Secrets of War s1e19: Cold War: The Strangelove Factor
Mutual distrust grew; relations between the United States and the Soviet Union rapidly deteriorated. ibid.
By 1962 the Russians had a problem: the United States had a 17 to 1 superiority in nuclear missiles and warheads. ibid.
But for America missiles just ninety miles away was a new and terrifying experience. Secrets of War s1e57: Cold War: The Kennedy Years
When I take action, I’m not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It’s going to be decisive. George W Bush
Let me share with you a vision of the future that offers hope. It is that we embark on a program to counter the awesome Soviet missile threat with measures that are defensive. Ronald Reagan
Senator Levin, you and other Democrats in the Congress have voiced fears that you simply don’t have enough for the large increases in defense that the Pentagon is seeking, especially for missile defense. Does this sort of thing convince you that an emergency exists in this country to increase defense spending? Donald Rumsfeld berating Senator Carl Levin, then Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee, evening of 9/11
We nicknamed it Dreadnought: it’s a self-guided tactical missile carrying a charge of a thousand kilos of matter and another thousand of anti-matter. Star Trek: Voyager s2e17: Dreadnought, Chakotay in briefing room
An alpine fortress stretching into northern Austria … Fear of wonder-weapons was understandable. Nazi Underworld: Nazi Gold, National Geographic 2013
The old mining tunnels were ideal places to build weapons. ibid.
The world’s first long-range ballistic missile ... More than a thousand V2s were fired at Britain … Killed almost three thousand people. ibid.
Somewhere around the world in unknown hands are seventy-four hugely accurate missiles that can bring down a 747. Each one is worth $50,000. Misha Glenny, McMafia
I found missile research utterly demoralizing. Partly it was because I was hoping I would soon be joining MI5. But I was not alone in realizing that the missile system was unlikely ever to be built. It was a folly, a monument to British self-delusion. In any case this kind of science was ultimately negative. Why spend a life developing a weapon you hope and pray will never be used? Peter Wright, Spycatcher p26
Feedback: the magic idea thought up by MIT and Bell Labs for tracking the missile, and then using fancy math to predict from the radar data where the missile is likely to be a few seconds from now. James Burke, Connections s3e1: Feedback, BBC 1997
At about 6.30 p.m. on 8th September Londoners heard a huge double boom. A massive pall rose above Chiswick in west London ... A new revenge weapon: the V2 rocket. Secrets of World War II: The RAF versus the V2 ep17
Scientists and technicians at Peenemunde pressed ahead with the rocket program. ibid.
At first Britain’s air defences were stretched to the limit ... Of the 4,000 V1s eventually brought down over southern England about half were brought down by artillery coordinated by radar. ibid.
The rocket had been designed at the cutting edge of technology. Its gyroscopic guidance system was far in advance of anything in the allied armoury and the electric tort, which drive the motors, was the smallest of its kind. But each V2 cost twenty times more than the V1 for just one ton of explosives. ibid.
Captured V weapons were displayed in Trafalgar Square. ibid.
The real winner in the story of the V weapons may have been Wernher von Braun. He surrendered to the Americans with his entire research team. ibid.
A rocket-powered missile guided to its target by human hands. Japanese suicide aircraft – the Kamikazes – were among the most terrifying weapons of the Pacific war … Balloons loaded with bombs which rode the jet stream across the Pacific … The Japanese balloon bombers were perhaps the strangest secret weapon of the Second World War. Secrets of World War II e18: Japan’s Last Secret Weapon
The Germans would fire over 9,500 V1s at southern England during the summer of 1944. Stephen Fry, Who Betrayed the Bombers Boys? Yesterday 2013
We present the first footage of the V2 missile on its flight to England. For reasons of secrecy it has been filmed from a long distance and offers only a vague idea of the real dimensions of the V2. National Socialist propaganda film 1944
By the time the V1s reach the capital city, their fuel is used up and their engines die out. Londoners never know where they will fall. Nearly 20,000 of these missiles were launched against England and continental Europe killing 11,000 people. World War II: The Apocalypse: Retreat and Surrender aka Apocalypse: The Second World War: Inferno, France 2 2009
The Fuhrer is far-sighted. He knows that the rocket is the weapon of tomorrow. Operation Crossbow 1965 starring George Peppard & Sophia Loren & Trevor Howard & John Mills & Tom Courtenay & Richard Johnson & Jeremy Kemp & Anthony Quayle & Lilli Palmer & Paul Henreid & Patrick Wymark & Richard Todd et al, director Michael Anderson, Nazi
London soon will stagger under the impact of 20,000 flying bombs. ibid.
The Fuhrer has ordered the total destruction of London. ibid.