A memory surfaced recently of a professor during university saying something to this effect, that after the Cold War ended it was discovered that many missiles had been miscalibrated and would not have hit their targets in the US, but would have fallen in Canada instead. Is there any truth to this? Any engaging books that you would recommend on the topic? Many thanks.
When it is said that Russian missiles were miscalibrated it is not so much that they miss entire countries but rather miss a few hundred meters.
Basically the Russian and American missile divide can be simplified down to American = smaller but more accurate nukes and Russian = larger but less accurate nukes.
Not sure about the American train of thought but the Russians basically figured that its a nuke, missing by a few hundred meters wont actually matter. So if it was miscalibrated it would have hit in the general area but given the size it would still destroy large areas of the cities.
Keep in mind these are Russian operators (they didnt trust the Cubans with handling the nukes), and would have been the best of the best since it was literally the most important area at that time.
It's fair to point out that Canada is a crucial part of NORAD and contemporary sources assume Canada would be attacked as part of any attack on the United States.