During the Cold War, the CIA gleamed much of its information about new Soviet weapon systems simply by showing up at parades. The Soviet Union regularly held parades through Moscow’s Red Square, displaying new equipment designed to showcase the power of the Soviet state. The Soviets were on to the CIA though, and in at least one famous instance fooled Western intelligence into believing the country had far more nuclear-capable bombers than it really did.



These parades were held annually on May 1st to celebrate International Workers’ Day and November 7th, to commemorate the October Revolution Parade. As George Washington University’s National Security Archive points out, “Although the largest parades took place in Moscow, other Soviet cities held them as well. Moscow also occasionally hosted an air show in July that emphasized military aircraft.”

SS-9 "Scarp" intercontinental ballistic missile paraded down Red Square, 1968. National Security Archive

The Soviets paraded all types of military equipment but the most important sightings were of nuclear weapons delivery systems. The Soviets paraded nuclear artillery, ballistic missiles, and other weapons down Red Square and other venues. Heavy artillery, including 240-millimeter multiple rocket launchers and surface-to-air missiles like the SA-6 Gainful that could threaten U.S. bombers were also noted. These were often systems otherwise sighted only as tiny specks in photographs taken by spy planes including the U-2, and the ability to observe them up close was a priceless intelligence coup.

A Bison bomber flying in the Moscow Air Show, June 1956. Getty Images

Western military attaches posted to embassies and consulates in the Soviet Union often attended the parades and took pictures. The Soviets on the other hand were well aware of the importance of these parades to U.S. intelligence, and at least on one occasion duped the Americans into believing they had far more weapons than previously believed. In July 1955, at the Soviet Union’s Aviation Day aerial parade, the Soviets flew ten Bison strategic bombers in formation over the parade route.

Once out of sight from the parade ground, the Bisons looped back around and flew the same route—six times. As a result, U.S. intelligence believed that the Soviets had flown sixty bombers over the parade, not ten, and that this meant Moscow had up to 600 Bison bombers, far more more than previously thought. This precipitated fears of a “bomber gap” in which the Soviets would soon overtake the U.S. in long range bomber production and the popularity of President Eisenhower, who was blamed for the nonexistent “gap” took a hit. In reality, the Soviets had only 23 Bison bombers . Let the watcher beware.

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