Did The U.S. Exaggerate Russia’s Cold War Super Weapons?

Visitors walk around tanks and armoured vehicles on display at Army-2015. Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Kyle Mizokami, National Interest: How the Pentagon Exaggerated Russia’s Cold War Super Weapons

Many, many years ago, I was in junior high school and was deeply nerdy about military matters. Information was hard to come by in those days before the Internet, and people like me were limited to what books and magazines were available at the time.

One day I went to my local federal building to look for a particular book. It was propaganda released by the Department of Defense. Although I was in high school, I was savvy enough to know it was propaganda; it was going to be something to read just like anything else. It was Soviet Military Power.

Soviet Military Power was an annual book released by the Pentagon that explained the alleged growth and technical abilities of the Soviet armed forces. It was also an attempt to justify Pres. Ronald Reagan’s defense buildup by presenting the Pentagon’s version of the U.S.-Soviet military rivalry.

That narrative was, “We’re outnumbered, we’re outgunned, and they’re catching up on our technological lead.” It was a call to action.

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WNU Editor: The Pentagon was not the only guilty party exaggerating what the other side had. Living on the other side I sometimes wondered if the Kremlin was exaggerating U.S. Cold War super weapons .... which I now know they were.