Mark Lincoln | May 1, 2012
I remember the Aviation Week issue with drawings of six-engined bomber resembling the Bear. About four years later we were assailed with a drawing of the Bounder, except it was billed as a super-sonic nuclear powered bomber.
There was – and is – endless hype of impending threats none of which ever really happened.
There was no 'bomber gap', nor 'missile gap.' Reports of Soviet spaced based lasers in the late 1970s, the 'zap gap,' were just hype to justify buying more bombers, missiles, and star wars.
"The Window of Vulnerability" served to terrify Americans for decades, always receding into the future each year, ever ominous.
Senator 'Scoop', Jackson (D-Boeing) described the Cold War as a 'permanent jobs program.' So it was, and with China, Iran, and Korea as the new 'threat,' we will continue to justify what are by far the most expensive armed forces in the world.