STRAT - X STRAT - X , or Strategic - Experimental , was a U . S . government - sponsored study conducted during 1966 and 1967 that comprehensively analyzed the potential future of the U . S . nuclear deterrent force . At the time , the Soviet Union was making significant strides in nuclear weapons delivery , and also constructing anti - ballistic missile defenses to protect strategic facilities . To address a potential technological gap between the two superpowers , U . S . Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara entrusted the classified STRAT - X study to the Institute for Defense Analyses , which compiled a twenty - volume report in nine months . The report looked into more than one hundred different weapons systems , ultimately resulting in the MGM - 134 Midgetman and LGM - 118 Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile s , the s , and the Trident submarine - launched ballistic missile s , among others . Journalists have regarded STRAT - X as a major influence on the course of U . S . nuclear policy . Background . In the mid - 1960s , reports received by U . S . intelligence agencies indicated that the Soviets were planning to deploy large numbers of highly accurate and powerful intercontinental ballistic missile s ( ICBMs ) . Later , the R - 36 ICBM entered service . Possessing the greatest throw weight of any ICBM ever at , the R - 36 was larger than the most modern ICBMs in the U . S . arsenal at the time . Due to its size , it was capable of destroying Minuteman hardened silos . This was considered a significant risk to American ICBMs and , as a result , to the United States ' nuclear defense strategy by reducing the United States ' ability to retaliate with nuclear weapons if attacked . At the same time , the Soviets were designing and constructing increasingly sophisticated anti - ballistic missile defense systems to protect strategically important facilities around Moscow , reducing the threat posed by American ICBMs . These developments compelled the U . S . Secretary of Defense , Robert McNamara , to commission a study to look into ways of improving the survivability of the U . S . nuclear arsenal . According to Graham Spinardi in his book " From Polaris to Trident " ( 1994 ) , STRAT - X was a response by the U . S . Department of Defense ' s Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering , Lloyd Wilson , to the U . S . Air Force ; the service was demanding a large ICBM called the WS - 120A . Spinardi suggests that STRAT - X was allowed to proceed so it could terminate the study for such a missile . Funding for the WS - 120A would not be released by Secretary McNamara , and plans for such a missile were canceled in 1967 . Study . The study was named " STRAT - X " in order not to reveal its intentions , and also to eliminate partiality towards sea - , air - or land - based systems . It was conducted by the Research and Engineering Support Division of the independent and non - profit Institute for Defense Analyses ( IDA ) , which had conducted a study in early 1966 titled " Pen - X " , upon which STRAT - X was based . STRAT - X was chaired by President of the IDA , General Maxwell D . Taylor , while the institution ' s Fred Payne presided over STRAT - X ' s " working " panel . The panel also included executives from major independent corporations and defense contractor s such as Boeing , Booz Allen Hamilton , Thiokol and TRW . The Advisory Committee members were mostly military officers , including U . S . Navy Rear Admirals George H . Miller and Levering Smith . On 1 November 1966 , McNamara signed an order authorizing STRAT - X , officially initiating the study . During STRAT - X , the working panel was " encouraged to examine system concepts unrestrained by considerations of potential management problems or political influences . " The Secretary wanted new ideas about " path - breaking " weapons systems that were either offensive or defensive in nature , unhindered by defense bureaucracy , which had the potential to stifle innovation . Sea - , land - and air - based missile systems were investigated , but manned bombers and orbital systems were not . The group was also asked to consider the cost effectiveness of all systems , as well to predict possible Soviet responses . To meet this requirement , a series of documents were written from the perspective of the Soviet Minister of Defense General Andrei Grechko , complete with anti - capitalistic statements and a prediction of the eventual triumph of socialism . In the end , a twenty - volume report covered no fewer than 125 different ideas for missile systems , nine of which were reviewed in great detail . Findings and consequences . Of the nine prospective weapons systems , five were land - based . These were : " Rock Silo " — a system where missiles would be stored in hardened silos of granite bedrock in the Western and Northern United States ; " Soft Silo " — a similar system but with easily and cheaply constructed silos ; " Rock Tunnel " — a system where missiles would be transported around in deep underground networks before emerging at launch points ; " Soft Tunnel " — a similar tunnel but built more cheaply and easily ; and " Land Mobile " — a truck - based system where road - transporters traveled at speeds up to constantly around a dedicated and winding road system in of public land . Of the remaining four , three were sea - based . These were : " Canal - Based " — a systems where missiles would be sailed in canals to confuse Soviet military planners ; " Ship - Based " — a system where ships carrying missile canisters would travel around the world , hiding among other traffic ; and " Submarine - Based " — a system where ballistic missile submarine s would roam the oceans while carrying missile canisters outside their pressure hulls . The single air - based based consideration was the " Air Launched ICBM " , which required large aircraft carrying standoff ballistic missiles to launch their payloads at the Soviet Union . Despite the numerous options investigated during the study , none were fully implemented . Although the STRAT - X " Land Mobile " option resulted in the MGM - 134 Midgetman and LGM - 118 Peacekeeper missiles , the fall of communism throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s resulted in the Midgetman being canceled while still a prototype , while only 50 out of the original 100 Peacekeeper missiles were ever fielded . Nevertheless , the study did inspire a number of developments in nuclear weapons delivery systems . In October 1974 , the U . S . Air Force successfully conducted an air launch of a Minuteman missile from a C - 5 Galaxy , demonstrating the credibility of the " Air Launched ICBM " option of STRAT - X . Although the U . S . Navy then had several classes of ballistic missile submarine s and submarine - launched ballistic missile ( SLBM ) in service , the study placed a significant emphasis on the survivability of SLBMs . This resulted in the enormous " Ohio " - class submarine and the Trident SLBMs which the " Ohio " class carried . The study originally called for dedicated slow - moving missile - carrying submarines ( instead of converted attack submarines ) to embark missiles outside their hulls and rely primarily on stealth for survivability . However , Admiral Hyman Rickover , director of the Naval Reactors office , wanted a boat capable of a burst of high speed in order to affect a safe " getaway " after launching the boat ' s payload . As a result , the " Ohio " class was designed to accommodate enormous nuclear reactors to produce the required speed . " Ohio " - class submarines carry their missiles inside of their hulls , despite STRAT - X ' s recommendation . " Ohio " - class submarines and Trident missiles are still in service . Legacy . STRAT - X had far - reaching effects on the development and deployment of U . S . nuclear forces . It was the first time that the strategic requirements of the U . S . Armed Forces were addressed in a detailed and analytical manner . In a 2002 report by the RAND Corporation , STRAT - X was described as " one of the most influential analyses ever conducted " for the U . S . Department of Defense . Journalist Peter Grier , in his " Air Force " magazine article " STRAT - X " , described the study as " a wide - ranging look at the future of U . S . weapons that shaped the nuclear triad for decades , and remains a model for such efforts today " . In 2006 , the Defense Science Board ( DFS ) noted STRAT - X ' s introduction of ideas and concepts that resulted in the " Ohio " - class submarines and small and mobile ICBMs . The DFS also attributed the use of air - launched cruise missile s , particularly those carried by the B - 52 Stratofortress , to STRAT - X despite their lack of references in the study .