What must the Russians think? And right in the middle of the missile crisis. Will they be pushed off the edge of the brink, or will cooler heads prevail?
Wouldn't the Soviet military also have RADAR and tracking devices keeping watch on bomber streams flying toward Russian airspace as well as light-up displays in case of rocket launch?
Correct. The Soviets were even more paranoid about an accidental nuclear exchange than the Americans. Why do you think they kept their Deltas and Typhoons in port so much. In any case, the State Department would get on the phone to is Russian counterpart and assure them that all of America's nuclear ordanance is accounted for.
I don't think the State Department (or anyone) had a direct emergency landline to Moscow back then. It's down to ambassadorial staff to go and talk to people then.
There's a book, called A Day in th Life of President Kennedy, which states VERY clearly that after the Cuban Missile Crisis the President had a direct line to the Kremlin which was to be used in case of an emergency.
Correct. The Soviets were even more paranoid about an accidental nuclear exchange than the Americans. Why do you think they kept their Deltas and Typhoons in port so much.
Of course, US and Western analysts would be sh**ing in their pants at how Russia got such a powerful bomb, more powerful than the combined arsenals of East AND West, at least until it got sorted out as to what it was.
Because they were Soviet built crap that they had trouble maintaining.