What was the nickname of the Strategic Defense Initiative Quizlet?
Herein, what was the nickname of the Strategic Defense Initiative? Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), byname Star Wars, proposed U.S. strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks—as originally conceived, from the Soviet Union.
Why was the Strategic Defense Initiative called Star Wars?
This Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, dubbed “Star Wars” by opponents) was inspired by the emergence of new laser and particle-beam technology that seemed to have the potential to devise an accurate, instantaneous, and nonnuclear means of shooting down long-range missiles in their boost phase, before their….
What is the abbreviation for Strategic Defense Initiative?
Alternative Titles: SDI, Star Wars. Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), byname Star Wars, proposed U.S. strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks—as originally conceived, from the Soviet Union. The SDI was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in a nationwide television address on March 23, 1983.
What was the Strategic Defense Initiative in the 1980s?
Wednesday, July 18, 2018 During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an anti-ballistic missile program that was designed to shoot down nuclear missiles in space. Otherwise known as “Star Wars,” SDI sought to create a space-based shield that would render nuclear missiles obsolete.
What was another name given to Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative?
During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an anti-ballistic missile program that was designed to shoot down nuclear missiles in space. Otherwise known as “Star Wars,” SDI sought to create a space-based shield that would render nuclear missiles obsolete.
What was Reagan's Star Wars program?
The speech announced the creation of a new missile defense called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which quickly became known as Star Wars. It envisaged a vast network of laser-armed satellites, air-based missiles, and ground-based interceptors missiles and electromagnetic railguns.
What was the Strategic Defense Initiative quizlet?
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars, was a program first initiated on March 23, 1983 under President Ronald Reagan. The intent of this program was to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union.
What happened to SDI?
It was formally scrapped by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Despite criticisms from politicians, many scientists and others that the SDI was impractical, expensive and dangerous, the concept was developed during a frightening era.
Why was the Strategic Defense Initiative called Star Wars?
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the "Star Wars program", was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles).
When was the Strategic Defense Initiative?
March 23, 1983On March 23, 1983 in a televised address to the nation, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced his intention to embark upon groundbreaking research into a national defense system that could make nuclear weapons obsolete.
What was glasnost quizlet?
Glasnost. Means openness. Allowed more freedom of religion and speech in Soviet Union and satellite nations, enabling people to discuss politics openly.
Who launched the Star war Defence system SDI?
Terms in this set (26) The Iranian's released the hostages on Reagan's Inauguration Day, January 20, 1981, after 444 days of captivity. In March 1983, Reagan announced his intention to pursue a high-technology missile-defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars.
Why do you think the Strategic Defense Initiative was controversial quizlet?
Why do you think the Strategic Defense Initiative was controversial? SDI was controversial because of how expensive it was and the fact that it was never successful.
What means SDI?
Serial digital interface (SDI) is a standard for digital video and audio transmission over coaxial or fiber optic cabling. Speeds currently range from 270 megabits per second (Mbps) up to 12 gigabits per second (Gbps) for the latest standard released in 2015.
Are there nukes in Star Wars?
By the time period shortly following the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY, nuclear weapons were usually found only in the Outer Rim Territories or beyond. Leia Organa believed the planet Shiva IV to have been the setting for a devastating war in which nuclear bombs had been used.
How did the Soviet Union respond to the SDI?
SDI also failed to dissuade the Soviet Union from investing in development of ballistic missiles. The Soviet Union quickly identified ways to avoid a technological arms race with the United States and focused on development of advanced missiles and anti-satellite systems to counter missile defenses.
What was the goal of the Strategic Defense Initiative?
During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an anti-ballistic missile program that was designed to shoot down nuclear missiles in space. Otherwise known as “Star Wars,” SDI sought to create a space-based shield that would render nuclear missiles obsolete.
Who was the first director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization?
On March 27, 1984—more than a year after Reagan had announced SDI—Air Force Lieutenant General James Abrahamson was appointed as the first director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). The role of the organization, however, remained largely unclear.
Why was SDI not a violation of ABM?
Two days after announcing SDI, Reagan signed NSDD 85, which authorized “the development of an intensive effort to define a long term research and development program aimed at an ultimate goal of eliminating the threat posed by nuclear ballistic missiles,” but “in a manner consistent with our obligations under the ABM Treaty and recognizing the need for close consultations with our allies.” According to the Reagan administration, SDI was not a violation of ABM because it was only pursuing research and development, not deployment. As Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger explained, “The fact is, deployment will not occur unless a defensive system is developed that would better contribute in better ways to deterrence than the arrangement which now keeps the peace, as it has for nearly 40 years” (O’Connell 77).
What was the surprise of the SDI announcement?
The announcement of SDI shocked officials around the globe. To many, it was as unexpected as it was provocative . As Secretary of State Schultz explained, “Prior to the president’s speech, even the possibility that the United States might seriously seek to defend itself from nuclear attack seemed outlandish.
What was the criticism of SDI?
Another common criticism of SDI was that it was simply not a feasible project. For example, the day after Reagan announced SDI, Senator Ted Kennedy dismissed his speech as “misleading Red-scare tactics and reckless Star Wars schemes,” indirectly coining SDI’s Hollywood nickname.
What was Reagan's anti-Soviet rhetoric?
Reagan also adopted tough anti-Soviet rhetoric and policy, a stark contrast to the decade of détente which preceded him. Three weeks before the announcement of SDI, Reagan gave his famous “evil empire” speech, which branded the Soviet Union as the unequivocal enemy of the United States.
Where did SDI originate?
The Origins of SDI. Caption: Edward Teller. Reagan’s interest in anti-ballistic missile technology dated back to 1967 when, as governor of California, he paid a visit to physicist Edward Teller at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Reagan reportedly was very taken by Teller’s briefing on directed-energy weapons (DEWs), ...
What was the Strategic Defense Initiative?
On March 23, 1983 in a televised address to the nation, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced his intention to embark upon groundbreaking research into a national defense system that could make nuclear weapons obsolete. The research took a number of forms which collectively were called ...
What was Reagan's goal with the SDI system?
Reagan described the SDI system as a way to eliminate the threat of nuclear attack; once the system was developed, its existence would benefit everyone. In this way, it could also be portrayed as a peace initiative that warranted the sacrifice of funds from other programs.
What was Reagan's refusal to give up SDI?
Over the course of the 1980s, Reagan's refusal to give up SDI became the sticking point that prevented the two countries from reaching a deal on other arms control measures, and it was only when the two sides agreed to delink defense and intermediate-range forces discussions that they managed to sign the INF Treaty.
Why did the US and Soviet Union refrain from developing missile defense systems?
That treaty had committed the United States and the Soviet Union to refrain from developing missile defense systems in order to prevent a new and costly arms race. The Strategic Defense Initiative appeared to be a missile defense system by another name.
Why was Reagan interested in technology in the early 1980s?
One was to silence domestic critics concerned about the level of defense spending.
What was the SDI in Star Wars?
The idea was dependent on futuristic technology , including space-based laser systems that had not yet been developed, although the idea had been portrayed as real in science fiction. As a result, critics of the proposal nicknamed SDI "Star Wars" after the movie of the same name.
What would happen if the Soviet Union had a successful defense system?
In terms of the Cold War conflict with the Soviets, a successful defense system would destroy the Soviet ability to make a first strike, which in turn would undermine the USSR's ability to pose a threat to the United States at all.
Overview
Controversy and criticism
Historians from the Missile Defense Agency attribute the term "Star Wars" to a Washington Post article published March 24, 1983, the day after the speech, which quoted Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy describing the proposal as "reckless Star Wars schemes", a reference to the fantasy franchise Star Wars. Some critics used the term derisively, implying it was an impractical science fi…
History
The US Army had considered the issue of ballistic missile defense (BMD) as early as late in World War II. Studies on the topic suggested attacking a V-2 rocket would be difficult because the flight time was so short that it would leave little time to forward information through command and control networks to the missile batteries that would attack them. Bell Labs pointed out that although lo…
Project and proposals
On March 23, 1983, Reagan announced SDI in a nationally televised speech, stating "I call upon the scientific community in this country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete."
In 1984, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was established to oversee the prog…
Ground-based programs
The Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) program was part of SDI's Theater Missile Defense Program and was an extension of the Flexible Lightweight Agile Guided Experiment (FLAGE), which included developing hit-to-kill technology and demonstrating the guidance accuracy of a small, agile, radar-homing vehicle.
FLAGE scored a direct hit against a MGM-52 Lance missile in flight, at White Sa…
Directed-energy weapon (DEW) programs
An early focus of the SDI effort was an X-ray lasers powered by nuclear explosions. Nuclear explosions give off a huge burst of X-rays, which the Excalibur concept intended to focus using a lasing medium consisting of metal rods. Many such rods would be placed around a warhead, each one aimed at a different ICBM, thus destroying many ICBMs in a single attack. It would cost much less for th…
Space-based programs
Groups of interceptors were to be housed in orbital modules. Hover testing was completed in 1988 and demonstrated integration of the sensor and propulsion systems in the prototype SBI. It also demonstrated the ability of the seeker to shift its aiming point from a rocket's hot plume to its cool body, a first for infrared ABM seekers. Final hover testing occurred in 1992 using miniaturized compon…
Sensor programs
SDIO sensor research encompassed visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, and radar technologies, and eventually led to the Clementine mission though that mission occurred just after the program transitioned to the BMDO. Like other parts of SDI, the sensor system initially was very large-scale, but after the Soviet threat diminished it was cut back.
The Origins of SDI
The Announcement
Reaction in The West
Development
SDI as Propaganda
- The Strategic Defense Initiative was ultimately most effective not as an anti-ballistic missile defense system, but as a propaganda tool which could put military and economic pressure on the Soviet Union to fund their own anti-ballistic missile system. This possibility was particularly significant because, during the 1980s, the Soviet economy was t...
Arms Control Negotiations
Legacy