The Fire of the Gods: Oppenheimer's Legacy - The Evolutionary History of Nuclear Age - Part 3 - 1970-1980 - The Unusual Decade: The Fire of the Gods, #3

By Rajat Narang

The Book-3 of the series; based on recently declassified documents by the CIA , U.S. State Department, KGB after the end of Cold War and other international agencies; takes-off at the onset of the 1970s decade, when, after having developed deployed thousands of ICBMs & SLBMs armed to the teeth with megaton-class thermonuclear warheads, both the U.S. as well as the U.S.S.R; were faced with the urgent need to invest billions of dollars towards the development & nationwide deployment of Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Systems to protect themselves against each other's ICBMs & SLBMs.

 

The Soviets, incredibly, had deployed around 1,000 heavy ICBMs hosting a massive & insane 6,000+ megatons worth of thermonuclear warheads, collectively posing an existential threat to U.S. homeland as well as NATO allies while the U.S. had a clear overmatch in Heavy Bombers and SLBMs over the Soviets. The cost of development of a comprehensive ABM System to secure the entire U.S. had been pegged at $40 billion in the mid-1960s, equivalent of almost $400 billion today, which, still would have sparked another arms race between them. Both the superpowers, however, chose to instead negotiate to mutually limit the scope of the threat and shake hands which paved the way for détente and arms control agreements under SALT-I in 1972, a groundbreaking event, followed by the Helsinki Accords in 1975, which briefly altered the course of the Cold War but eventually proved to be decisive in ending it by empowering  ordinary people as well as citizens across both sides...

The highlights of the analysis include:-

1. How the outbreak of a potential, limited nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union at the onset of 1970s decade would have led to a loss of at least 100 million lives across each side, which was almost half of the entire population of each nation, back then?
2. How a potential, limited nuclear war between the two sides would have wiped out almost 1 billion people from the face of Earth collectively, which was almost a third of the world's entire population back in the late 1960s?
3. How further development of the R-36/SS-09 ICBM by the Soviet Union briefly altered the overall strategic balance of power & nuclear first strike advantage in favor of the Soviet Union through the 1970s?
4. How CIA salvaged & recovered the wreckage of a lost Soviet nuclear-powered submarine, equipped with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles and torpedoes, from 16,000 ft in a clandestine, top-secret operation under the prying eyes of the Soviets in 1974?
5. How U.S.' courting of China and nuclear saber-rattling in the India-Pakistan war of 1971, in direct support of the latter, directly led to India's atomic detonation in 1974 and develpment of nuclear weapons?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rajat Narang
• Release date: Jan 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224209460

Rajat Narang

Rajat Narang is the Co-Founder and Partner of a niche Research Firm pivoted on the Global Aerospace & Defense Industry for over a decade now apart from being a serial Author and active Podcaster. He has authored over 2000+ syndicated research reports (across industries & sectors) and has authored around 8 books on Commercial & Military Aviation and Leadership. The end users of his reports have been senior executives of leading Commercial & Military Aviation OEMs led by Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, Gulfstream, Dassault, Textron Aviation and their supplier base, including, engine OEMs and T1 suppliers such as GE Aviation, Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney, Safran & Spirit Aerosystems. His reports have also been leveraged by the U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin Corporation, BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) on the defense side of A&D. His educational background includes a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in International Business with Business Strategy as the core pivot followed by a Masters in Political Science with specialization in International Relations. His podcasts “Birds of Fray: Top Gun Maverick” and “M.S. Dhoni: Leadership Masterclass from the Master of the Craft” are available on most leading global platforms, including, Amazon Music, Spotify and Apple & Google Podcasts  and have a substantial following. Bitten early by the A&D, Strategy & Leadership bugs while growing up, he has been actively following, tracking & pursuing them for almost 2 decades now.

Book preview

The Fire of the Gods – The Evolutionary History of Nuclear Age – Part III – 1970-1980 

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From Détente & Arms Control, Nuclear Parity & Power to the Disrupted Overall Balance of Power

Published by: @9000RPM Works

Rajat Narang

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Disclaimer

The presented analysis has been purely anchored on factual evidences available in the public domain- based information sources and utmost effort has been made to ensure fair play to present the most objective view of reality in the light of available facts.

The opinions expressed throughout are purely author’s personal and the views & judgments presented are neither directed or targeted specifically at anyone nor meant as pontification of any sort and are solely based on objective assessment of prevailing situations, decisions & outcomes.

The lenses used to view and analyze the series of events & key junctures have primarily been of international relations, political science and history, which, invariably led to limiting the scope for deep dives to areas & angles to only relevant perspectives. It is also not intended as a technology/technical guide of any kind into nuclear science/physics. However, the inclusion of some technical aspects, scientific units of measurement & performance parameters has been done purely for analysis, relevance and contextual requirements.

The information and facts contained, herein, are believed to be correct at the time of publication but cannot be guaranteed. All the information presented has been derived from reliable sources, reasonably verified & has been presented purely & solely for informational purposes only. The views expressed throughout are based on broad analysis & assessments only and, thus, should not be substituted for professional advice & opinion of any kind prior to decision-making of any kind. The author expressly disclaims any and all liability to any person or entity pertaining to potential outcomes or consequences of any decisions or actions taken based on the contents of this publication.  

The analysis presented cites quotes, comments, statements and short excerpts from public reports; derived from public domain-based information sources; originating from multiple sources with due citations, proper attribution & due credits provided under fair terms of use. The incorporation of these has been done throughout purely to provide readers with actual prevailing viewpoints, opinions & industry stakeholders’ take on the specific operating and/or strategic context being analyzed as contextual evidences for the lines of analysis presented. The approach has also been taken for the readers to be able to fairly construct the contours of the subject matter clearly, review them, be able to form their own judgments, opinions & viewpoints and be able to explore the subject further by treading along the provided pathway & resources for digging deeper.

The presented content contains generic information only and is not suitable for addressing specific or particular circumstances of any specific case or scenario. The content, thus, is not intended to be used as a basis for taking decisions of commercial or any other nature. The authors and the publisher disclaim all liabilities originating from the outcomes of the application of the presented content in real-life scenarios without duly conducting thorough due-diligence and without seeking professional advice & opinion from relevant subject matter experts.

Dedication

Dedicated to the Supreme One and the Destroyer God of the Hindu ‘Trinity’ of Gods, Lord Shiva

The One Who Tames the Evil and the Wicked and Destroys when Required

Who has had no Beginning nor End and is Beyond the Miseries of the Cycles of Birth & Death

Who, along with his Better Half, is the Source of Life on Planet Earth

Who is Beyond the Clutches of Time & Limitations of Space

The Supreme Master of the Masters and the Lord of the Lords

The Greatest Meditator Ever, True Hermit & Spiritual Guru of the Entire World

The Fair One for Whom Everyone is Equal and Does Not Discriminate

The Detached One Who Shows the Way to the Lost

Is Beyond the Attachment of Praise or Fear of Condemnation

The Master of Death who is said to have appeared as a Huge, Unending Column of Fire Traversing the Earth & Space

The One Who Shields his Disciples from the Sorrows of this World and Even Untimely Death

The Kind One Who Forever Blesses with True Love & Everlasting Bliss...

Table of Contents

Chapter I

The Nixon Effect and the Nuclear Balance of Power

Chapter II

The ICBMs Race

Chapter III

SALT-I and Arms Control

Chapter IV

The Nuclear-Sub Heist

Chapter V

The First Asian Nuclear Nation

Chapter VI

Operation Smiling Buddha

Chapter VII

Plugging the Gaps and the Final Act

Chapter VIII

The Abrupt Rise & Sudden Fall of Détente

Chapter IX

The Neutron Bomb

Chapter X

Nuclear-Powered Surveillance Satellites

Bibliography

About the Author

Chapter I

The Nixon Effect and the Nuclear Balance of Power

Our deeper energy problems come not from war, but from peace and from abundance. We are running out of energy today because our economy has grown enormously and because in prosperity what were once considered luxuries are now considered necessities. The average American will consume as much energy in the next 7 days as most other people in the world will consume in an entire year. We have only 6 percent of the world’s people living in America, but we consume over 30 percent of all the energy in the world. I am asking the Atomic Energy Commission to speed up the licensing and construction of nuclear plants. We must seek to reduce the time required to bring nuclear plants on line - nuclear plants that can produce power - to bring them on line from 10 years to 6 years, reduce that time lag. – Richard Nixon, U.S. President, in his address to the Nation on November 07, 1973

By the late 1960s, nobody was paying heed to the brewing up of inflationary pressures, which were hidden underneath a strong economic showing, caused by the financial burden of Vietnam War and rising fiscal spending on the ‘Great Society’ programs being spearheaded by the President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration since 1965-1966, besides, the active pursuit of an easy monetary policy by the Fed to boost economic growth & employment. The LBJ administration, however was, simultaneously, also making passive efforts, alongside, to contain inflationary pressures by cooling down the economy by exhorting businesses to put a cap on capital expenditures rather than directly raising interest rates. Nevertheless, the U.S. economy was in a mild-recession for a year by December 1969 until the end of 1970. 

The 1968’s Presidential Election in the United States brought Richard Nixon to White House as the 37th U.S. President in a highly turbulent year marked by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968 and Robert Kennedy in June of the same year followed by weeks of national riots and huge public protests over the ongoing Vietnam War. Nixon was a lawyer and, like JFK, he had also served in the Naval Reserve during the World War-II era. He had been a seasoned politician and had already served as the Vice President under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961.

The advent of the Richard Nixon administration to the White House in 1969, however, led to continued & increased funding for social welfare spending (in view of the upcoming elections in 1971) while the objective of containing rising inflation levels was relegated to a secondary status, way down on the overall priority list as the ongoing Vietnam War continued to impact the economy which was already headed towards a slowdown.

The recession of 1969 almost dovetailed with the efforts to contain rising inflation through monetary policy tightening while closing budget deficits of the Vietnam War. However, after the economic recovery had been achieved by the end of 1970, the Fed’s focus & response was on the pursuit of an easy monetary policy, characterized by low-interest rates, to promote growth & make the economy appear way stronger than it actually was, with the same spearheaded by Arthur Burns, the new Fed Chairman, who was appointed by the Nixon Administration in early 1970 to orchestrate it.

In 1970, Nixon also signed the National Environmental Policy Act, which established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He also created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and signed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts respectively. 

Nixon’s subsequent decision to suspend gold convertibility of the U.S. Dollar in August 1971, under the Smithsonian Agreement, however, led to a significant devaluation of the greenback, with a direct & significant impact on those exposed directly to the U.S. Dollar globally, especially, the Middle East- based oil producers, who lost substantial oil revenues, following the unexpected plummeting of the U.S. Dollar.

OPEC, which had already been established in the 1960s, started exercising active control over oil production & prices, following the U.S.’ move and even retaliated by imposing an oil embargo on the U.S. in the 1973, intended at boosting oil prices and for punishing the U.S. administration for its support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. 

Nixon’s re-election in late 1972, driven by low-unemployment rates & strong economic growth numbers registered for 1972, was a major victory for the Republicans. However,