missile gap

American  

noun

1. a lag in one country's missile production relative to the production of another country.

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Etymology

Origin of missile gap

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Those weapons, along with anti-ship missiles fielded in Okinawa by the new littoral regiments, could help close a growing missile gap with China, say experts.

From Reuters

Of course, like the "bomber gap" that preceded it by a few years, no such missile gap actually existed.

From Salon

A year earlier, U.S. officials had declared that the “missile gap”—the intelligence agency’s estimate of overwhelming Soviet superiority in intercontinental ballistic missiles—was a myth.

From Slate

He mocked talk of the “missile gap” during the 1960 presidential campaign, wryly jesting, “Maybe the Russians will steal all our secrets, then they’ll be three years behind.”

From Washington Post

That term, of course, harkens back to Cold War hysteria surrounding the threat of nuclear annihilation, which led U.S. lawmakers to grow unduly concerned with the "missile gap," a widely held misconception that the Soviet Union was outpacing the U.S. with superior ballistic missile capabilities.

From Salon