▁at ▁a ▁reasonable ▁cost . ▁At ▁the ▁same ▁time , ▁it ▁would ▁ensure ▁that ▁the ▁Air ▁Force ' s ▁miss iles ▁would ▁surv ive ▁any ▁sort ▁of ▁small - scale ▁attack ▁en vision ed ▁by ▁the ▁military ▁pl ann ers . ▁This ▁led ▁to ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁Army - A ir ▁Force ▁studies ▁under ▁the ▁name ▁Hard site . ▁Hard site ▁initially ▁considered ▁the ▁idea ▁of ▁using ▁the ▁existing ▁N ike - X ▁hardware ▁being ▁proposed ▁around ▁large ▁cities ▁to ▁deliber ately ▁offer ▁additional ▁protection ▁to ▁Air ▁Force ▁and ▁other ▁military ▁bases ▁in ▁the ▁area . ▁A ▁second ▁series ▁of ▁studies ▁considered ▁cut - down ▁deploy ments ▁to ▁protect ▁remote ▁bases , ▁like ▁the ▁miss ile ▁fields . ▁This ▁later ▁concept ▁quickly ▁captured ▁the ▁majority ▁of ▁follow - up ▁work . ▁ ▁AB M ▁treat y ▁ ▁Robert ▁Mc N am ara ▁felt ▁that ▁deploy ing ▁an ▁AB M ▁system ▁would ▁simply ▁prompt ▁the ▁S ovi ets ▁to ▁built ▁more ▁IC B M s ▁to ▁over wh elm ▁it , ▁leading ▁to ▁a ▁new ▁arms ▁race . ▁He ▁also ▁felt ▁that ▁more ▁miss iles ▁meant ▁more ▁ch ances ▁for ▁an ▁accident al ▁launch , ▁which ▁would ▁actually ▁increase ▁the ▁change ▁of ▁a ▁war ▁and ▁lower ▁overall ▁security . ▁Mc N am ara ▁constantly ▁delay ing ▁deployment ▁of ▁N ike - X , ▁but ▁faced ▁increasing ▁criticism ▁for ▁doing ▁so . ▁When ▁the ▁Chinese ▁tested ▁their ▁first ▁H - b omb ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 7 , ▁Mc N am ara ▁announced ▁a