Without the arms race, we (the United States) wouldn't be where we are technologically. The Arms Race was a race in which the Soviet Union (present day Russia) and the United States competed to have greater military force than. The advancement of technology during the Cold War was greater than that of any one time. Because of the lack of information on Russia, the United States based much of its need for military innovation on the assumption that the Russian military status was greater than that of America. The Arms Race had two fronts, nuclear weaponry, and conventional military weapons. America believed that if Russia were to have more nuclear warheads than the US that they would be less afraid to use them, and so the US should strive to maintain, at minimum, nuclear equality with Russia. nuclear rivalry led to the invention increasingly deadlier weapons. After the Cold War ended, both superpowers had more nuclear warheads than any country could ever use. The US and Russia both have to now spend billions on destroying these weapons to see that they never fall into the wrong hands.