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The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed the Star Wars program, was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the US from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons. The concept was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan , [1] a critic of the doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD), which he described as a ...
- 1993 (renamed)
- Federal government of the United States
- 1984
- Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, Missile Defense Agency
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly known as Star Wars, proposed U.S. strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks—as originally conceived, from the Soviet Union. It was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in a nationwide television address on March 23, 1983.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Reflecting on “Past” U.S. Missile Defense Policy
- Legacy of The Strategic Defense Initiative
- The “Present” Threat Environment
- National BMD Not About The PRC Or Russia
- Importance of International Cooperation on Missile Defense
- Conclusion
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan concluded a televised address from the White House by posing the question: “What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before t...
Obviously, it’s impossible to do justice to the 40-year history of U.S. missile defense policy launched by the SDI in only a few minutes, but I hope this overview helps set the stage for some conversations today. From my perspective, a key legacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative is that it did not aim to achieve a unilateral strategic advantage....
In transitioning from the “past” to the “present,” we recognize that offensive missile capabilities continue to evolve in complexity, capability, and capacity. For example, the PRC, Russia, the DPRK, and Iran are developing and deploying greater numbers of missiles with increasingly greater: 1. ranges, 2. accuracy, 3. velocity, 4. lethality, 5. rel...
That said, I want to emphasize that today’s U.S. homeland BMD system is designed only to address ICBMs from rogue states such as the DPRK, and potentially Iran. Though the United States retains the right to defend ourselves from any source, Russia’s—as well as the PRC’s—numerically large and sophisticated strategic nuclear forces are capable of sat...
Another important legacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative, and a consistent element in all subsequent missile defense policy initiatives, is the recognition that international cooperation constitutes a force multiplier for regional stability. With the State Department’s support, DOD programs of cooperation with allies and partners have been a vi...
Let me end on one more legacy of the SDI that remains particularly relevant to AVC’s work today. In his SDI-initiating address on March 23, 1983, President Reagan noted his commitment to the mutual reduction in nuclear weapons. He noted that his announcement could “pave the way for arms control measures to eliminate the weapons themselves.” Since t...
Learn how the Strategic Defense Initiative launched by President Reagan in 1983 evolved into the current U.S. missile defense policy and programs. Explore the challenges and opportunities of defending against advanced missile threats from rogue regimes and adversaries.
Learn about the history and controversy of SDI, a Cold War program that aimed to shoot down nuclear missiles in space. Find out how Reagan initiated SDI, how it threatened the balance of mutually assured destruction, and how it influenced the arms race.
Jan 18, 2019 · Learn about the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a controversial program that aimed to protect the U.S. from nuclear missiles with space-based lasers and other technologies. Find out why Reagan proposed it, how critics and scientists reacted, and what happened to it.
- Lesley Kennedy
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a major program for defense against Soviet missiles championed by President Ronald Reagan beginning in 1983. The U.S. missile defense program began in March 1946 in response to Germany's World War II missile program that included plans for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). By the mid ...
Learn about President Reagan's proposal to develop a space-based missile defense system that could make nuclear weapons obsolete. Explore the reasons, challenges, and consequences of SDI for U.S. security and arms control.
