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58-484: SDI may refer to: Arts and entertainment [ edit ] SDI (arcade game) , 1987, by Sega S.D.I. (video game) , 1986, by Cinemaware Companies and organizations [ edit ] Samsung SDI , battery manufacturer Scottish Development International Scuba Diving International SDI Media Group , providing subtitling and language services SDI Presence , US IT consultancy SDI Technologies ,

116-434: A joystick to control the satellite and a trackball to control the crosshair. Home computer versions use different control schemes, such as depressing the fire button to control the crosshair, alternating between controlling the satellite and its weapons. It is also possible to use a joystick and mouse in combination to control the satellite and crosshair at the same time, emulating the arcade game's controls. Each stage

174-512: A lasing medium consisting of metal rods. Many such rods would be placed around a warhead, each aimed at a different ICBM, thus destroying many ICBMs in a single attack. It would cost much less for the US to build another Excalibur than the Soviets would need to build enough new ICBMs to counter it. The idea was first based on satellites, but when it was pointed out that these could be attacked in space,

232-430: A Microsoft disk image file format Medicine [ edit ] Sulfadimidine , an antibiotic Other uses in science and technology [ edit ] Selective dissemination of information Silt density index in reverse osmosis systems Smoke-developed index , the concentration of smoke emitted by a material Spiral Dynamics Integral , a model of evolutionary development Stand density index , of

290-521: A consumer electronics manufacturer, New Jersey, U.S.A. Service Desk Institute, for computer help desk staff Slum Dwellers International Socialisti Democratici Italiani (Italian Democratic Socialists), a political party Software Design Inc. Spiritual Directors International , supporting spiritual direction Steel Dynamics, Inc. , a steel producer, Indiana, US.A. In science and technology [ edit ] Computing and telecommunications [ edit ] Serial data input in

348-521: A decade. Instead of attempting to protect against thousands of incoming missiles, GPALS sought to provide protection from up to two hundred nuclear missiles. GPALS was tasked to protect the United States from attacks coming from all different parts of the world. In 1993, the Clinton administration further shifted the focus to ground-based interceptor missiles and theater-scale systems, forming

406-545: A high-powered orbital chemical laser attack ICBMs, the Space Based Laser (SBL). New developments under Project Excalibur by Teller's "O-Group" at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) suggested that a single X-ray laser could shoot down dozens of missiles with a single shot. The groups began to meet in order to prepare their plans for the incoming president. The group met with Reagan several times during 1981 and 1982, apparently with little effect, while

464-426: A review of the various concepts. They put together an all-star panel including many of the inventors of the laser, including a Nobel laureate . Their initial report was presented in 1986, but was released to the public (in redacted form) in early 1987. The report considered all of the systems then under development and concluded none of them were anywhere near ready for deployment. Specifically, they noted that all of

522-527: A satellite that successfully test-fired its cannon in orbit. In 1979, Teller contributed to a Hoover Institution publication where he claimed that the US would be facing an emboldened USSR due to their work on civil defense . Two years later at a conference in Italy, he made the same claims about their ambitions, now emboldened by new space-based weapons. According to popular opinion, shared by author Frances FitzGerald , no evidence validated that such research

580-509: A short period and the warheads did not rise high enough for them to be easily tracked by a satellite above them. GPALS thus added a mobile ground-based missile and more low-orbit satellites known as Brilliant Eyes to feed the Pebbles. GPALS was approved by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. The system would cut the proposed costs of the SDI system from $ 53 billion to $ 41 billion over

638-399: A small, Virginia-based think tank called High Frontier to continue research on the missile shield. The Heritage Foundation provided High Frontier with research space, and Graham published a 1982 report entitled, "High Frontier: A New National Strategy" that examined in greater detail how the system would function. Since the late 1970s, another group had been pushing for the development of

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696-688: A system consisting of hundreds of combat centers and satellites spanning the globe. The US held a significant advantage in advanced missile defense systems through decades of extensive research and testing. Several concepts, technologies and insights obtained were transferred to subsequent programs. Under SDIO's Innovative Sciences and Technology Office, investment was made in basic research at national laboratories, universities, and in industry. These programs have continued to be key sources of funding for research scientists in particle physics , supercomputing/ computation , advanced materials, and other critical science and engineering disciplines. In 1987,

754-730: A system that would render nuclear weapons obsolete, and to end the doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD), which he described as a " suicide pact ". Elements of the program reemerged in 2019 under the Space Development Agency (SDA). The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was set up in 1984 within the US Department of Defense to oversee development. Advanced weapon concepts, including lasers, particle-beam weapons , and ground and space-based missile systems were studied, along with sensor, command and control , and computer systems needed to control

812-451: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages SDI (arcade game) Players control a Strategic Defense Initiative satellite orbiting the Earth and must destroy enemy missiles/satellites with its weapons, and when activated the satellite's weapon systems fire at the crosshair present onscreen during play. The arcade version features

870-409: Is split into two sections: offensive mode and defensive mode. During offensive mode, the player engages a number of enemies with the aim of destroying them all without the satellite being destroyed by the enemy. Should the player destroy all enemies during offensive mode, they are awarded 20,000 bonus points and begin the next stage on the offensive. If any enemies evade destruction during offensive mode,

928-565: The American Physical Society concluded that the technologies were decades away from readiness, and at least another decade of research was required to know whether such a system was even possible. After the publication of the APS report, SDI's budget was cut. By the late 1980s, the effort had re-focused on the " Brilliant Pebbles " concept using small orbiting missiles, such as a lower cost conventional air-to-air missile . SDI

986-775: 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 National Missile Defense . The Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) program was part of SDI's Theater Missile Defense Program and was an extension of the Flexible Lightweight Agile Guided Experiment (FLAGE), which included developing hit-to-kill technology and demonstrating

1044-473: The Brilliant Pebbles concept. This was essentially the combination of the sensors on the garage satellites and the tracking stations. Advancements in sensors and microprocessors allowed this to be packaged in a small missile nose cone. Subsequent studies suggested that this approach would be cheaper, easier to launch and more resistant to counterattack, and in 1990 Brilliant Pebbles was selected as

1102-567: The Clinton Administration redirected the efforts towards theatre ballistic missiles and renamed the agency the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO). In 2019, elements, specifically the observation portions, of the program re-emerged with President Trump's signing of the National Defense Authorization Act . The program is managed by the Space Development Agency (SDA) as part of

1160-598: The Marshall Islands . For each test a Minuteman missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying a single mock re-entry vehicle targeted for Kwajalein lagoon more than 4,000 miles (6,400 km) away. After test failures with the first three flight tests because of guidance and sensor problems, the DOD reported that the fourth and final test on June 10, 1984, was successful, intercepting

1218-519: The Safeguard Program , all aimed at developing a system to defend against attacks by Soviet ICBMs. The programs proliferated because of the changing threat; the Soviets claimed to be producing missiles "like sausages", and ever-more missiles would be needed to defend against their fleet. Low-cost countermeasures such as radar decoys required additional interceptors. An early estimate suggested $ 20 spent on defense would be required for every $ 1

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1276-503: The Serial Peripheral Interface bus Serial digital interface for sending video signals over coaxial cable Single document interface , a style of graphical user interface Software-defined infrastructure , with no human intervention Spatial data infrastructure Standard Disk Interconnect , a DEC standard Statistical Design Institute's SDI Tools for Microsoft Excel System Deployment Image ,

1334-537: The Soviet Union began in 1964–1965. Though classified at the time, a detailed study on a Soviet space-based laser system began no later than 1976 with the 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. A revolver cannon ( Rikhter R-23 ) was mounted on the 1974 Soviet Salyut 3 space station,

1392-536: The 1980s the US Army began studies about the feasibility of kinetic hit-to-kill vehicles, i.e. interceptors that would destroy incoming ballistic missiles by colliding with them. The Homing Overlay Experiment (HOE) was the first such system tested by the Army, and the first successful hit-to-kill intercept of a mock ballistic missile warhead outside the Earth's atmosphere. HOE used a kinetic kill vehicle (KKV). The KKV

1450-640: The DOD never disclosed to Congress the enhancements made to the target vessel. HOE technology was later expanded into the Exoatmospheric Reentry-vehicle Interception System program. Developed by Lockheed as part of the ground-based interceptor portion of SDI, the Exoatmospheric Reentry-vehicle Interceptor Subsystem (ERIS) began in 1985, with at least two tests occurring in the early 1990s. This system

1508-769: The Minuteman RV with a closing speed of about 3.8 mi/s (6.1 km/s) at an altitude of more than 100 mi (160 km). 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 success. At the urging of Senator David Pryor , the General Accounting Office investigated the claims and concluded that though steps were taken to make it easier for

1566-550: 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. During this period, the entire topic of BMD became increasingly controversial. Early deployment plans were met with little interest, but by

1624-470: The Soviets spent on offense. The addition of MIRV in the late 1960s further moved the balance in favor of offensive systems. This massively skewed cost-exchange ratio prompted observers to propose that an arms race was inevitable. President Dwight D. Eisenhower asked ARPA to consider alternative concepts. Their Project Defender studied many approaches before concentrating on Project BAMBI . BAMBI used satellites carrying interceptors that would attack

1682-447: The Soviets were devoting serious thought to both explosive and non-explosive nuclear power sources for lasers. On March 23, 1983, Reagan announced SDI in a nationally televised speech, stating "I call upon the scientific community in this country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete." In 1984,

1740-653: The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was established to oversee the program, which was headed by Lt. General James Alan Abrahamson USAF, a past Director of the Space Shuttle program . In addition to original Heritage ideas, other concepts were considered. Notable among these were particle-beam weapons , updated versions of nuclear shaped charges , and various plasma weapons . SDIO invested in computer systems, component miniaturization, and sensors. Initially,

1798-633: The baseline model for SDS Phase 1. While SDIO pursued SDS, the Warsaw Pact was rapidly disintegrating, culminating in the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989. One of the many reports on SDS considered these events and suggested that a massive defense against a Soviet launch would become unnecessary. However, short and medium range missile technology would likely proliferate as the Soviet Union disintegrated and sold off its hardware. One of

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1856-517: The buildup of new offensive weaponry like the B-1 Lancer and MX missile continued. However, in early 1983, the Joint Chiefs of Staff met with the president and outlined the reasons why they might consider shifting some of the funding from the offensive side to new defensive systems. According to a 1983 US Interagency Intelligence Assessment, good evidence indicated that in the late 1960s

1914-429: The city or its surrounding areas. The A-35 was the only Soviet ABM system allowed under the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty . In development since the 1960s and in operation from 1971 until the 1990s, it featured the nuclear-tipped A350 exoatmospheric interceptor missile. George Shultz , Reagan's secretary of state , suggested that a 1967 lecture by physicist Edward Teller was an important precursor to SDI. In

1972-451: The concept moved to a "pop-up" concept, with the device launched from a submarine off the northern Soviet coast. However, on March 26, 1983, the first test (known as the Cabra event ), was performed in an underground shaft and resulted in marginally positive readings possibly caused by a faulty detector. Since a nuclear explosion was used as the power source, the detector was destroyed during

2030-400: The core ideas behind Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS) was that the Soviet Union would not always be the aggressor and the United States would not always be the target. Instead of a heavy defense aimed at ICBMs, this report suggested realigning GPALS deployment. Against novel threats the Brilliant Pebbles would have limited utility, largely because the missiles fired for only

2088-528: The fall of 1979, at Reagan's request, Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham , the former head of the DIA , briefed Reagan on an updated BAMBI he called High Frontier, a missile shield composed of multi-layered ground- and space-based weapons that could track, intercept, and destroy ballistic missiles, theoretically enabled by emerging technologies. It was designed to replace the MAD doctrine. In September 1981, Graham formed

2146-437: The flight time was so short that it would leave little time to forward information through command and control networks to missile batteries. Bell Labs pointed out that although longer-range missiles flew much faster, their longer flight times would ease the timing issue and their high altitudes would ease long-range radar detection. This led to a series of projects including Nike Zeus , Nike-X , Sentinel and ultimately

2204-616: The guidance accuracy of a small, agile, radar-homing vehicle. FLAGE scored a direct hit against a MGM-52 Lance missile in flight, at White Sands Missile Range in 1987. ERINT was a prototype missile similar to the FLAGE, but it used a new solid-propellant rocket motor that allowed it to fly faster and higher than FLAGE. ERINT was later chosen as the MIM-104 Patriot (Patriot Advanced Capability-3, PAC-3) missile. Given concerns about previous programs' nuclear-tipped interceptors, in

2262-454: The interceptor to find its target (including some of those alleged by the New York Times ), the available data indicated that the interceptor had been successfully guided by its onboard infrared sensors in the collision, and not by an onboard radar guidance system as alleged. Per the GAO report, the net effect of the DOD enhancements increased the infrared signature of the target vessel by 110% over

2320-573: The late 1960s, public meetings on the Sentinel system were met by thousands of angry protesters. 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. A Soviet military A-35 anti-ballistic missile system was deployed around Moscow to intercept enemy ballistic missiles targeting

2378-509: The lecture, Teller talked about the idea of defending against nuclear missiles using nuclear weapons , principally the W65 and W71 , with the latter an enhanced thermal/X-ray device used on the 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. Development of laser weapons in

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2436-554: The most reckless and irresponsible acts in the history of modern statecraft.” Through declassified intelligence material, the wider implications and effects of the program revealed that due to the potential neutralization of its arsenal and resulting loss of a balancing power factor, SDI was a cause of grave concern for the Soviet Union and its successor state Russia. Following the Cold War when nuclear arsenals were shrinking, political support for SDI collapsed. SDI ended in 1993, when

2494-468: The new National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). CIA Director Mike Pompeo called for additional funding to achieve a full-fledged "Strategic Defense Initiative for our time, the SDI II" though it is unclear what this had to do with SDA. The US Army considered the issue of ballistic missile defense (BMD) after World War II . Studies suggested that attacking a V-2 rocket would be difficult because

2552-564: The player must complete defensive mode, where they are tasked with protecting the homeland from incoming warheads. Completion of defensive mode advances the player to the next stage, where they go on the offensive again. The real Strategic Defense Initiative was colloquially known as the Star Wars program and proposed by U.S. President Reagan in 1983 to promote defensive weaponry that could shoot ICBMs out of space. In Japan, Game Machine listed SDI on their June 1, 1987 issue as being

2610-521: The program focused on large-scale systems designed to defeat a massive Soviet offensive strike. For this mission, SDIO concentrated almost entirely on "high tech" solutions like lasers. Graham's proposal was repeatedly rejected by members of the Heritage group as well as within SDIO; when asked about it in 1985, Abrahamson suggested that the concept was underdeveloped and was not considered. By 1986, many of

2668-557: The promising ideas were failing. Teller's X-ray laser, run under Project Excalibur , failed several key tests in 1986 and was targeted to the anti-satellite role. The particle beam concept was demonstrated to basically not work, as was the case with several other concepts. Only the Space-Based Laser seemed to have any hope of developing in the short term, but it was growing in size due to its fuel consumption. The American Physical Society (APS) had been asked by SDIO to provide

2726-464: The realistic missile signature initially proposed for the HOE program, but nonetheless the GAO concluded the enhancements to the target vessel were reasonable given the objectives of the program and the geopolitical consequences of its failure. Further, the report concluded that the DOD's subsequent statements before Congress about the HOE program "fairly characterize[d]" the success of HOE4, but confirmed that

2784-450: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title SDI . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SDI&oldid=1204308488 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing Italian-language text Short description

2842-457: The sixth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. Strategic Defense Initiative The Strategic Defense Initiative ( SDI ), derisively nicknamed the Star Wars program , was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles . The program was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan . Reagan called for

2900-556: The stocking of a stand of trees Subsurface drip irrigation Suction Diesel Injection , a Volkswagen diesel engine Other uses [ edit ] Saidor Airport (IATA code), in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea Socio-Demographic Index of the Global Burden of Disease Study State Disability Insurance of California, US Strategic Defense Initiative , US anti-missile project Topics referred to by

2958-492: The systems could be deployed as an anti-missile system until the next century. Faced with this report and accompanying negative press, SDIO changed direction. Beginning in late 1986, Abrahamson proposed that SDI would be based on the system he had previously dismissed, a version of High Frontier now named the "Strategic Defense System, Phase I Architecture". The name implied that the concept would be replaced by more advanced systems in future phases. Strategic Defense System (SDS)

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3016-514: The systems had to improve their energy output by at least 100 times, and in some cases by as much as a million. In other cases, like Excalibur, they dismissed the concept entirely. Their summary stated simply: We estimate that all existing candidates for directed energy weapons (DEWs) require two or more orders of magnitude, (powers of 10) improvements in power output and beam quality before they may be seriously considered for application in ballistic missile defense systems. They concluded that none of

3074-560: Was carried out. Instead, Teller was promoting his latest weapon, the X-ray laser that was finding only limited funding, his speech in Italy was a new attempt to synthsize a missile gap . In 1979, Reagan visited the NORAD command base, Cheyenne Mountain Complex , where he was introduced to the extensive tracking and detection systems extending throughout the world and into space; however, he

3132-492: Was derisively nicknamed the Star Wars program, and criticized for threatening to destabilize the MAD-approach, and to re-ignite "an offensive arms race ". In a 1986 speech, Senator Joe Biden claimed “'Star Wars' represents a fundamental assault on the concepts, alliances and arms-control agreements that have buttressed American security for several decades, and the president’s continued adherence to it constitutes one of

3190-515: Was equipped with an infrared seeker, guidance electronics and a propulsion system. Once in space, the KKV could extend a folded structure similar to an umbrella skeleton of 13 ft (4 m) diameter to enhance its effective cross section. This device was intended to destroy an ICBM reentry vehicle on collision. Four test launches were conducted in 1983 and 1984 at Kwajalein Missile Range in

3248-708: Was never deployed, but its technology was used in the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the Ground-Based Interceptor currently deployed as part of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system. An early SDI focus was an X-ray laser powered by nuclear explosions . Nuclear explosions give off a burst of X-rays, which the Excalibur concept intended to focus using

3306-457: Was struck by their comments that while they could track the attack down to the individual targets, they could not stop it. Reagan felt that in the event of an attack, this would place the president in a terrible position, having to choose between immediate counterattack or absorbing the attack while maintaining offensive dominance. Shultz suggested that this feeling of helplessness, coupled with Teller's defensive ideas combined to motivate SDI. In

3364-525: Was the low-earth orbit (LEO) Smart Rocks concept with an added layer of ground-based missiles sited in the US. These missiles were intended to attack warheads that the Smart Rocks missed. In order to track them below the radar horizon , SDS added more LEO satellites that would feed tracking information to both the space-based "garages" as well as the ground-based missiles. Later ground-based systems trace derived from this concept. LLNL then introduced

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