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Missile gap, Sputnik to Minuteman in Montana history
The piece traces Cold War fears from Sputnik launches and the missile gap myth to U S plans for Minuteman missiles. It highlights Eisenhower, Khrushchev, Kennedy, and McNamara admitting the gap was myth, then focuses on Montana’s Malmstrom base and Great Falls efforts to secure an air base and build the 150 Minuteman silos and 15 launch control centers by 1963, with $50 million in contracts and a two-year push.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Soviet Union
Dog Laika
Dwight Eisenhower
Nikita Khrushchev
America
Eisenhower
Khrushchev
Sergei
John F. Kennedy
Richard M. Nixon
Kennedy
United States
Robert McNamara
Air Force Ballistic Missile Committee
Malmstrom Air Force Base
Great Falls
Washington, D.C
Chamber of Commerce
Army Air Base
Pearl Harbor
Ed Shields
D.C
Great Fall
Army
Shields
Henry Harley
Hap” Arnold
Army Air Forces
Harry Goldsworthy
Air Force
Murray M. Moler
United Press International
Malmstrom Afb
Minuteman
Montana
Butte Hill
Strategic Air Command
22Nd Ai Division
SAC
World Control Center
Omaha
Neb