The Pentagons 1949 war plan against the Soviet Union ended with American troops in Moscow. Operation Dropshot, authorized by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on December 19, 1949, called for 300 atomic bombs on 100 Soviet cities, followed by a ground invasion. The Soviet Union would then be split into four occupation zones, with two American divisions in Moscow and one each in Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Murmansk, Gorky, and Kyivshev. The programs grew rapidly. In November 1945, three months after the end of the war, American intelligence selected about 20 Soviet cities for atomic attacks. In January 1949, the Trojan program targeted 70 cities with 133 bombs. 11 months later, Dropshot needed 300 bombs. The math changed in August 1949, when the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. By 1957, the year Dropshot expected war, the Soviet Union had the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. Dropshot remained on paper.

The Pentagons 1949 war plan against the Soviet Union ended with American troops in Moscow. Operation Dropshot, authorized by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on December 19, 1949, called for 300 atomic bombs on 100 Soviet cities, followed by a ground invasion. The Soviet Union would then be split into four occupation zones, with two American divisions in Moscow and one each in Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Murmansk, Gorky, and Kyivshev. The programs grew rapidly. In November 1945, three months after the end of the war, American intelligence selected about 20 Soviet cities for atomic attacks. In January 1949, the Trojan program targeted 70 cities with 133 bombs. 11 months later, Dropshot needed 300 bombs. The math changed in August 1949, when the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. By 1957, the year Dropshot expected war, the Soviet Union had the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. Dropshot remained on paper.