Strategic Defense Initiative was a United States effort lasting from 1983 to 1993 to develop a high-technology system of defense against nuclear missiles. The research centered on the use of both ground-based systems and weapons mounted aboard artificial satellites in outer space. Such weapons were to have included lasers (instruments that produce intense light beams) and other devices capable of destroying missiles and warheads in flight.
The Strategic Defense Initiative, also called SDI or “Star Wars,” was announced in 1983 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Reagan planned a large-scale defense system that would shield the nation from a massive first strike (initial nuclear attack) by the Soviet Union.
In 1991, the Soviet Union broke apart. As a result, fears of a major nuclear war decreased significantly. In 1993, the Administration of President Bill Clinton formally ended SDI as a program.
The SDI program was controversial for a number of reasons. For example, many critics argued that several technologies needed to complete a full SDI system might not work. Supporters, however, believed the technological challenges could be met.
In 2002, the United States began developing a basic land- and sea-based missile defense system along its west coast. However, the planned system is more limited than an SDI system would have been. The new system will be designed to intercept a single missile launched by a “rogue nation”—that is, a nation that ignores international law and supports terrorism—rather than to shield the country from a massive missile strike.
