In 1960, as tensions grew between the Soviet Union and the United States, the premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, began planning to secretly supply Cuba with nuclear missiles. Not until 1962 did the United States gain knowledge of these actions and begin to take action. The United States president, John F. Kennedy, warned, "The gravest issues would arise" should the Soviets continue to place nuclear weapons in Cuba. A standoff took place between the two great nations as the rest of the world looked on and held its breath. This became known as the "Cuban Missile Crisis."
             While the Soviets incessantly stated that they were defensive missiles the United States saw them as "clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction" and demanded their removal. However, with the Soviets declaring that they were solely for defensive purposes, how could the U.S. justify taking action? It was determined that each missile was capable of traveling a distance of more than 1000 nautical miles. There were also additional sites designed for ballistic missiles traveling twice as far, jet bombers being assembled, and the necessary air bases being prepared. This put Washington D.C. or any other city in the southeastern part of the United States in jeopardy of being struck by one of these missiles.
             For a long time, the Soviets thought that they were years a head of the US in terms of intercontinental missiles. After all, they had put 'Sputnik' into orbit, well before the US had dreamt of such an act. Most of the Soviet organizations did not believe that there was a necessity to build more intercontinental missiles. This laxity made it harder for the Soviets to understand and deal with the fact that they had been surpassed. As it was not possible to build more intercontinental missiles (economic reasons), a group within the newly created Strategic Rocket Forces proposed the using of Cuba as a missile site...