Editing LGM-30 Minuteman (section)

===Kennedy===
Minuteman's final tests coincided with the start of [[John F. Kennedy]]'s presidency. His new [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]], [[Robert McNamara]], was tasked with continuing the expansion and modernisation of the US nuclear deterrent while limiting spending. McNamara began to apply [[cost/benefit analysis]], and Minuteman's low production cost ensured its selection. Atlas and Titan were soon scrapped, and the storable liquid fueled [[LGM-25C Titan II|Titan II]] deployment was severely curtailed.<ref name="1990_MacKenzie" />{{rp|page=154}} McNamara also cancelled the [[North American XB-70 Valkyrie|XB-70]] bomber project.<ref name="1990_MacKenzie" />{{rp|page=203}}

Minuteman's low cost had spin-off effects on non-ICBM programs. The Army's [[LIM-49 Nike Zeus]], an interceptor missile capable of shooting down Soviet warheads, provided another way to prevent a sneak attack. This had initially been proposed as a way to defend the SAC bomber fleet. The Army argued that upgraded Soviet missiles might be able to attack US missiles in their silos, and Zeus would be able to blunt such an attack. Zeus was expensive and the Air Force said it was more cost-effective to build another Minuteman missile. Given the large size and complexity of the Soviet liquid-fueled missiles, an ICBM building race was one the Soviets could not afford. Zeus was canceled in 1963.<ref name="2008_Kaplan" />