Strategic Defense Initiative

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a plan created by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on defense instead on the offensive mutual assured destruction (MAD). It was nicknamed "Star Wars" by the public and by critics, a reference to the Star Wars space opera movie series, because they regarded the program as science fiction, extremely expensive, and for creating tensions with the Soviet Union and for increasing the arms race.

See also

• Anti-ballistic missile
• Anti-satellite weapon
• Nuclear arms race
• Space race
• United States Space Force

Strategic Defense Initiative Media

• President Reagan delivering the March 23, 1983, speech initiating SDI

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  Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) launch from White Sands Missile Range

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  13 ft (4 m) diameter web deployed by Homing Overlay Experiment

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  The 1984 SDI concept of a space based Nuclear reactor pumped laser or a chemical hydrogen fluoride laser satellite resulted in this 1984 artist's concept of a laser-equipped satellite firing on another, causing a momentum change in the target object by laser ablation. Before having to cool and re-aim at further possible targets.

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  This early artwork of the Nuclear detonation pumped laser array depicts an Excalibur engaging three targets, simultaneously. In most descriptions, each Excalibur could fire at dozens of targets, which would be hundreds or thousands of miles away.

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  Technicians at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) work on the Low-Power Atmospheric Compensation Experiment (LACE) satellite.

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  Brilliant Pebbles concept diagram