Asked by: Jay Botbol
business and finance defense industry

What happened to Reagan's Star Wars program?

27
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.


Similarly one may ask, what was Reagan's Star Wars program?

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.

Secondly, how much did Reagan spend on Star Wars? The ambitious and costly program, dubbed “Star Wars,” is now in its fourth decade, having consumed $209 billion while never being tested, even on a limited scale, in the heat of battle.

In this way, did the Star Wars program work?

It didn't help that, in order for Reagan's missile defense system to work, it would have to destroy Soviet missiles as they orbited the Earth -- an incredibly difficult task that would require putting weapons in space -- earning Reagan's initiative the name "Star Wars." (In case you're wondering, the Missile Defense

How much did the Strategic Defense Initiative cost?

27) reports a Council on Economic Priorities study of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, which estimates the final cost of a United States space defense system at $400 billion to $800 billion.

Related Question Answers

Domenico Mielenhausen

Professional

Did Reagan's SDI work?

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.

Majdouline Awgustoff

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How did SDI end the Cold War?

The Strategic Defense Initiative was a U.S. missile defense program that played a very prominent role in the U.S.-Soviet relationships in the 1980s and is often credited with helping end the Cold War, as it presented the Soviet Union with a technological challenge that it could not meet.

Cristina Orgogozo

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What was the main goal of the Strategic Defense Initiative?

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) 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).

Isolina Grusshaber

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What was Reagan's policy toward the Soviet Union?

The Reagan Administration implemented a new policy towards the Soviet Union through NSDD-32 (National Security Decisions Directive) to confront the USSR on three fronts: to decrease Soviet access to high technology and diminish their resources, including depressing the value of Soviet commodities on the world market;

Chouaib Bucesta

Explainer

Why is SDI called Star Wars?

The plan, called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or S.D.I., was dubbed “Star Wars” by its critics. They called it “Star Wars,” first because it sounded like something out of a science fiction movie, and second because the announcement came just weeks after President Reagan's “Evil Empire” speech.

Sakira Hudolei

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What was Gorbachev's new thinking?

The "new thinking" was of vital necessity for the Soviet Union to shut down the costly Cold War competition in order to continue internal economic reforms of perestroika.

Naveed Gudd

Pundit

What did the INF Treaty do?

The INF Treaty banned all of the two nations' land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of 500–1,000 kilometers (310–620 mi) (short medium-range) and 1,000–5,500 km (620–3,420 mi) (intermediate-range). The treaty did not apply to air- or sea-launched missiles.

Peg Jokhin

Pundit

What was Reagan's space dream?

Reagan's Star Wars. On March 23, 1983, President Reagan proposed the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an ambitious project that would construct a space-based anti-missile system. This program was immediately dubbed "Star Wars."

Cristiano Neureither

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Does America have nuclear defense?

GMD is designed to intercept a small number of nuclear-armed ICBMs in the mid-course phase, using Ground-based interceptor missiles (GBIs) launched from within the United States in Alaska and California. GMD uses non-nuclear GBIs with a kinetic warhead. Other components of the national missile defense are listed below.

Iñigo Jahontov

Pundit

How did the arms race and the US Strategic Defense Initiative affect the Soviet Union?

The Arms race and the United States Strategic Defense Initiative or SDI affect the Soviet Union by crippling thr Soviet's economy because it required more military spending. The United States economy was doing well that time and can get get more military funding unlike the Soviets.

Abdessadek Ingerfurth

Pundit

Who invented ballistic missile?

The first ballistic missile was the V-2 rocket, which was created in Nazi Germany during World War II. It was invented by Walter Dornberger and Wernher von Braun, and was first used in 1944, to attack London, England.

Eutimio Parera

Teacher

Is SDI possible?

The program known as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) includes research on a variety of technologies—many aimed at distinct phases of the ballistic missile flight path. It will also make tentative judgments on the technical feasibility of various SDI objectives, though definitive answers are not yet possible.

Ibon Loira

Teacher

How did Star Wars affect the Cold War?

Star Wars itself entered the realm of Cold War history after it was adopted by the media in the 1980s as a nickname for President Ronald Reagan's proposed Strategic Defense Initiative, which would have used lasers to defend the United States against incoming nuclear missiles."

Mihai Gorskov

Teacher

What does mutually assured destruction mean?

Mutual(ly) assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender (see pre-emptive nuclear strike and second strike).

Bikram El Fakiri

Teacher

Who was secretary of state under Reagan?

On July 16, 1982, Shultz was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the 60th U.S. Secretary of State, replacing Alexander Haig, who had resigned. Shultz served for six and a half years, the longest tenure since Dean Rusk's.

Qinqin Kohaus

Reviewer

What happened when Ronald Reagan became president?

Screen Actors Guild presidency
When the SAG president and six board members resigned in March 1947 due to the union's new bylaws on conflict of interest, Reagan was elected president in a special election. He was subsequently re-elected six times, in 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1959.

Maureen Klotz

Reviewer

What was Star Wars and what was its significance?

Star Wars was also important in the movement towards the use of computer-generated imagery in films. The commercial success of Star Wars created a boom in state-of-the-art special effects in the late 1970s. There was increased investment in special effects.

Cel Neidhart

Reviewer

Was the Strategic Defense Initiative successful?

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), 1983. 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.

Stefanov Porti

Reviewer

Why did the US invade Grenada?

It was triggered by the strife within the People's Revolutionary Government which resulted in the house arrest and execution of the previous leader and second Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop, and the establishment of the Revolutionary Military Council with Hudson Austin as Chairman.

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13th April, 2020

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