On May 14, 1961, the world’s first nuclear ramjet engine, “Tory-IIA”, mounted on a railroad car, roared to life for a few seconds. Three years later, “Tory-IIC” was run for five minutes at full power. Despite these and other successful tests, the Pentagon, sponsor of the “Pluto project”, had second thoughts. The weapon was considered “too provocative”,[2] and it was believed that it would compel the Soviets to construct a similar device, against which there was no known defense. Intercontinental ballistic missile technology had proven to be more easily developed than previously thought, reducing the need for such highly capable cruise missiles. On July 1, 1964, seven years and six months after it was started, “Project Pluto” was canceled.
“On July 1, 1964, seven years and six months after it was started, “Project Pluto” was canceled.”
Lasted longer than just about any other Cold War winning system under JFK/McNamara. Incredible that we had to drag the Cold War out for an extra 25 years because we made one stupid choice in the 1960 election...and it’s STILL not over, as Russia is showing.
But the way, did Russia check with us before working on that new system - like I’m sure we checked with them, throughout the Cold War.