Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) Questions and Answers Already Graded A

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) Questions and Answers Already Graded A Outline of Quizlet 1. Impact on the World 2. Ground Based Programs 3. Space Based Programs Star Wars (SDI) - Reagan's defensive program; laser beams and satellites would shoot down USSR missiles Ronald Reagan - Proposed SDI in his famous "Star Wars" speech. March 23, 1983 - Strategic Defense Initiative was created Purpose - Defend against Soviet Nuclear ICBM's Star Wars - Nick name for a proposed space-based missile defense system by public 1972 ABM Treaty - The United States withdrew from the 1972 ABM Treaty in order ultimately to deploy a national system of missile defense 1967 Outer Space Treaty - A treaty that governed activities and what countries did in space - SDI broke it - Space was only supposed to be used for peaceful purposes Fears from SDI - Other Treaties would be broken Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) - Concerns brought up about the program not following the rules of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Moscow - Moscow argued against SDI - Said that it was a cover for U.S. to develop space-based offensive weapons Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) - Part of the policy of detente, attempted to reduce the weapons each country contains - U.S. feared Soviet Union would retaliate because SDI broke SALT Soviets - Opposed to SDI Soviet Union in 80's - Didn't develop computers during the 80's because they feared that all of their information and secrets they would put on it would be leaked Soviet Union Computers - The Soviet Union not having computers was a disadvantage because they were not caught up with technology of the U.S. Missiles in Moscow - Moscow could use a fraction of its missile force to obliterate the U.S. fleet of ICBMs and the SDI NORAD command base and Cheyenne Mountain Complex - 1979 - Ronald Reagan visited the NORAD command base, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, where he was first introduced to the extensive tracking and detection systems extending throughout the world and into space U.S. Missile Defense Base - Congress shut down the sole U.S. Missile Defense Base in 1976 only months after it had become operational - Strategic defense appeared to have been abandoned by the United States for good Funding - Quietly continued in the range of $3 billion to $4 billion annually throughout the administration of George H. W. Bush Robert Reich - Estimated that SDI will control 'roughly 20% of US high technology venture capital over four years Nickname for the SDI - Star Wars Star Wars hurt the SDI - The public calling it Star Wars hurt it the program as it made it seem the ideas where to far fetched Education and Health Care - People expressed alarm that the funding for SDI came at the cost of social programs like education and health care December, 26, 1991 - Soviet Union finally collapses Changed Goal - In 1991 the program's goal was changed to intercepting only a small number of intermediate and long-range missiles - Perhaps launched from a rogue state such as Iraq or North Korea Cancelled SDI - Congress cancelled the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program in 1993 and was replaced with the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) - Later renamed the Missile Defense Agency in 2002. Today - The SDI is in use as Ballistic Missile Defense Organization - United States is building defenses with Reagan's vision Kinetic Energy Weapons - Primary focus of the weapons design group was focused on "land based kinetic energy weapons" V-2 Rocket - Was suggested before the Strategic Defense Initiative which is a long range Ballistic Missile Hit-to-Kill Vehicles - 1980s the US Army began studies about the feasibility of hit-to-kill vehicles, i.e. interceptor missiles that would destroy incoming ballistic missiles just by colliding with them head-on Targets - Concentrated around such major targets as U.S. ICBM silos BSTSs - Six "boost-phase surveillance and tracking satellites" (BSTSs) carrying sensitive telescopes to detect Soviet missile launches and computers to tell the SBIs where to find their targets Detection Gear - Ground and space-based detection gear to find the warheads for the ERIS missiles to attack in mid-course ERIS missiles - 1,700 ground-based ERIS missiles (exo-atmospheric reentry intercept system) intended to pick off some of the attacking warheads that make it past the initial defenses and are headed toward critical targets HOE Program - 1980s the US Army began studies about the feasibility of hit-to-kill vehicles, i.e. interceptor missiles that would destroy incoming ballistic missiles just by colliding with them head-on Fourth HOE test - Although the fourth test was described as a success, the New York Times in August 1993 reported that the HOE4 test was rigged to increase the likelihood of a successful hit Extended Range Interceptor - Air defense missile - 15.7 feet long - 10 inches in diameter - Weighed 700 pounds September 29, 1997 - First test date of the Extended Range Interceptor X-Ray laser - Used nuclear explosions to admit x-ray's Chemical laser - Used to burn the missles Have sting - Large rail gun - Have Sting's projectiles might have generated velocities as high as 35,000 miles per hour. Equal to a re-entering spacecraft or falling meteor Failer of lasers - All of the ideas for tghe lasers failed due to lack of technology Brilliant pebbles - Use high-velocity, watermelon-sized, teardrop-shaped projectiles made of tungsten as kinetic warheads to colide with oncoming IICBM's - Worked with Brilliant Eyes November 1986 - When Brilliant Pebbles was announced Lowell Wood - Announced Brilliant Pebbles at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Defense Science Board and JASON - Did a lot of studying on Brilliant Pebbles in 1989 $7 to $13 billion - Amount of money saved by using Brilliant Pebbles 1994 - When Brilliant Pebbles was canceled What satellites were used for - tracking in coming missiles from the Soviet Union - Gave tracking information to space based garages and ground bases missiles Warheads - Hard to track with a satellite SBI's - "space-based interceptors" , heat-seeking missiles to destroy Soviet missiles SBI Satellites - 150 satellites, each carrying 10 SBI's United States - Used satellites during Cold War