Could they hit the US? Of course. Could they destroy the US?
No. Not even close.
Actually, pretty close. They had a couple hundred SLBMs with adequate range to wipe out every coastal city in the United States. Seattle, San Fran, LA, NYC, Houston, NOLA, Miami, Boston, all the way around.
In addition, the R7 had a 6,000 mile range, fully deployed. However, they had ALMOST ready for deployment (in '61) the SS7 with a range of 8,100 miles. Now, it is a fact that the USA had a larger stockpile of warheads at that time.
But the principal advantage of missiles in Cuba to USSR (and disadvantage to US) was that it reduced the advanced warning to nothing, leaving insufficient time for the US to get a MAD launch off the ground before missiles began hitting the southern USA.
Again, I cannot believe you are claiming that USSR didn't have a massive ability to strike the US with nuclear weapons without Cuba. Because they most certainly did, and it certainly could be a strike which utterly destroyed the United States.
MAD was stupid, in addition to being immoral. Cuba was not an essential element in MAD, obviously. If that's what you're claiming, you are pretty ignorant of some well-known facts. |
