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Strategic Defense Initiative: Difference between revisions
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[[File:LIM-49A Spartan mockup.png|thumb|The [[Nike-X|Extended Range Nike Zeus]]/[[LIM-49A Spartan|Spartan missile]] of the late-1960s was designed to provide full-country defense as part of the Sentinel-[[Safeguard Program|Safeguard]] programs. Projected to cost $40 billion (${{inflation|US|40|1966}} billion in {{currentyear}}) it would have offered minimal protection and damage prevention in an all-out attack.{{sfn|Ritter|2010|p=154}}]] | [[File:LIM-49A Spartan mockup.png|thumb|The [[Nike-X|Extended Range Nike Zeus]]/[[LIM-49A Spartan|Spartan missile]] of the late-1960s was designed to provide full-country defense as part of the Sentinel-[[Safeguard Program|Safeguard]] programs. Projected to cost $40 billion (${{inflation|US|40|1966}} billion in {{currentyear}}) it would have offered minimal protection and damage prevention in an all-out attack.{{sfn|Ritter|2010|p=154}}]] | ||
President | President Dwight D. Eisenhower asked [[DARPA|ARPA]] to consider alternative concepts. Their Project Defender studied many approaches before concentrating on [[Project BAMBI]]. BAMBI used satellites carrying interceptors that would attack the Soviet ICBMs upon launch. This [[boost phase]] intercept rendered MIRV impotent; a successful attack would destroy all of the warheads. Unfortunately, the operational cost of such a system was so large that the [[US Air Force]] rejected the concepts. Development was cancelled in 1963.<ref>{{cite web |website=Astronautix.com |url=http://www.astronautix.com/b/bambi.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227220849/http://astronautix.com/b/bambi.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |title=Bambi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/28/science/star-wars-traced-to-eisenhower-era.html |newspaper=The New York Times |title='STAR WARS' Traced to Eisenhower Era |first= William |last= Broad |date=October 28, 1986}}</ref> | ||
During this period, the entire topic of BMD became increasingly controversial. Early deployment plans were met with little interest, but by the late 1960s, public meetings on the Sentinel system were met by thousands of angry protesters.<ref name=today>{{cite web |first=Sharon |last=Watkins Lang |url=http://www.army.mil/article/142123/SMDC_History__Today_in_Space_and_Missile_Defense_History/ |title=Today in Space and Missile Defense History |date=February 3, 2015 |website=US Army}}</ref> After thirty years of effort, only one such system was built; a single base of the original Safeguard system became operational in April 1975, but was closed in February 1976.<ref>{{cite news | During this period, the entire topic of BMD became increasingly controversial. Early deployment plans were met with little interest, but by the late 1960s, public meetings on the Sentinel system were met by thousands of angry protesters.<ref name=today>{{cite web |first=Sharon |last=Watkins Lang |url=http://www.army.mil/article/142123/SMDC_History__Today_in_Space_and_Missile_Defense_History/ |title=Today in Space and Missile Defense History |date=February 3, 2015 |website=US Army}}</ref> After thirty years of effort, only one such system was built; a single base of the original Safeguard system became operational in April 1975, but was closed in February 1976.<ref>{{cite news | ||
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[[George Shultz]], Reagan's [[Secretary of State of the United States|secretary of state]], suggested that a 1967 lecture by physicist [[Edward Teller]] was an important precursor to SDI. In the lecture, Teller talked about the idea of defending against nuclear missiles using [[nuclear weapon]]s, principally the [[W65 (nuclear warhead)|W65]] and [[W71]], with the latter an enhanced thermal/X-ray device used on the [[LIM-49 Spartan|Spartan missile]] in 1975. Held at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] (LLNL), the 1967 lecture was attended by Reagan shortly after he became governor of California.<ref name=gps>{{Cite book |last=Shultz |first=George Pratt |authorlink=George P. Shultz |url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=96LVnQEACAAJ|page=261}} |page=261|title=Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State |date=1993 |publisher=Scribner's |isbn=978-0-684-80332-6 |language=en}}</ref> | [[George Shultz]], Reagan's [[Secretary of State of the United States|secretary of state]], suggested that a 1967 lecture by physicist [[Edward Teller]] was an important precursor to SDI. In the lecture, Teller talked about the idea of defending against nuclear missiles using [[nuclear weapon]]s, principally the [[W65 (nuclear warhead)|W65]] and [[W71]], with the latter an enhanced thermal/X-ray device used on the [[LIM-49 Spartan|Spartan missile]] in 1975. Held at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] (LLNL), the 1967 lecture was attended by Reagan shortly after he became governor of California.<ref name=gps>{{Cite book |last=Shultz |first=George Pratt |authorlink=George P. Shultz |url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=96LVnQEACAAJ|page=261}} |page=261|title=Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State |date=1993 |publisher=Scribner's |isbn=978-0-684-80332-6 |language=en}}</ref> | ||
Development of [[laser weapon]]s in the | Development of [[laser weapon]]s in the Soviet Union began in 1964–1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/soviet/990600-bmd-rus.htm|work=[[Nevsky Bastion]]|publisher=Federation of American Scientists|author=A. Karpenko|title=ABM And Space Defense|year=1999|pages=2–47}}</ref> Though classified at the time, a detailed study on a Soviet space-based laser system began no later than 1976 with the [[Polyus (spacecraft)|Polyus]], a 1 MW [[Carbon dioxide laser]]-based orbital weapons platform prototype. Development was also started on the anti-satellite ''Kaskad'' in-orbit missile platform.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2394/2|title=The Space Review: Plagiarism in several space history articles (page 2)|date=October 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008102950/http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2394/2|archive-date=October 8, 2017}}</ref><ref name="web.archive.org">{{cite web|url=http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/the-soviet-response-to-star-wars-that-never-was/2/|title=The secret laser-toting Soviet satellite that almost was – Ars Technica|date=September 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926143351/http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/the-soviet-response-to-star-wars-that-never-was/2/|archive-date=September 26, 2013}}</ref> | ||
A [[revolver cannon]] ([[Rikhter R-23]]) was mounted on the 1974 Soviet [[Salyut 3]] space station, a satellite that successfully test-fired its cannon in orbit.<ref name=Olberg>{{cite web| url = http://space.au.af.mil/books/oberg/ch02.pdf| title = James Olberg, ''Space Power Theory'', Ch. 2| access-date = June 17, 2013| archive-date = July 12, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180712205157/http://space.au.af.mil/books/oberg/ch02.pdf| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a18187/here-is-the-soviet-unions-secret-space-cannon/|title=Here Is the Soviet Union's Secret Space Cannon|date=November 16, 2015}}</ref> | A [[revolver cannon]] ([[Rikhter R-23]]) was mounted on the 1974 Soviet [[Salyut 3]] space station, a satellite that successfully test-fired its cannon in orbit.<ref name=Olberg>{{cite web| url = http://space.au.af.mil/books/oberg/ch02.pdf| title = James Olberg, ''Space Power Theory'', Ch. 2| access-date = June 17, 2013| archive-date = July 12, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180712205157/http://space.au.af.mil/books/oberg/ch02.pdf| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a18187/here-is-the-soviet-unions-secret-space-cannon/|title=Here Is the Soviet Union's Secret Space Cannon|date=November 16, 2015}}</ref> | ||
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=== Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) === | === Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) === | ||
In 1993, the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] administration further shifted the focus to ground-based interceptor missiles and theater-scale systems, forming the [[Ballistic Missile Defense Organization]] (BMDO) and closing BMDO was renamed by the | In 1993, the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] administration further shifted the focus to ground-based interceptor missiles and theater-scale systems, forming the [[Ballistic Missile Defense Organization]] (BMDO) and closing BMDO was renamed by the George W. Bush administration as the [[Missile Defense Agency]] and focused on limited [[United States national missile defense|National Missile Defense]]. | ||
==Ground-based programs== | ==Ground-based programs== | ||