Strategic Defense Initiative

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Strategic Defense Initiative Organization

Agency overview
Formed	1984
Preceding agency	Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
Dissolved	1993 (renamed)
Superseding agency	Ballistic Missile Defense Organization Missile Defense Agency
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed the Star Wars program, was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles. The concept was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan,^[1] a critic of the doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD), which he described as a "suicide pact". Reagan called upon American scientists and engineers to develop a system that would render nuclear weapons obsolete.^[2] Elements of the program reemerged in 2019 with the Space Development Agency (SDA).^[3]

The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was set up in 1984 within the US Department of Defense to oversee development. An array of advanced weapon concepts, including lasers,^[4][5] particle-beam weapons, and ground and space-based missile systems were studied, along with sensor, command and control, and high-performance computer systems needed to control a system consisting of hundreds of combat centers and satellites spanning the globe and involved in a short battle. The US held a significant advantage in comprehensive advanced missile defense systems through decades of extensive research and testing. Several concepts, technologies and insights obtained were transferred to subsequent programs.^[6][7][8][9] Under the SDIO's Innovative Sciences and Technology Office,^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]} the investment was predominantly 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, and funding which indirectly supports other research work by scientists.

In 1987, the American Physical Society concluded that the technologies were decades away from being ready, and at least another decade of research was required to know whether such a system was even possible.^[17] After the publication of the APS report, SDI's budget was cut. By the late 1980s, the effort had been re-focused on the "Brilliant Pebbles" concept using small orbiting missiles, like a conventional air-to-air missile, which was expected to be much less expensive to develop and deploy.

SDI was controversial and criticized for threatening to destabilize the MAD-approach potentially rendering the Soviet nuclear arsenal useless and to possibly re-ignite "an offensive arms race".^[18] 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 the most reckless and irresponsible acts in the history of modern statecraft.” ^[19]

Through declassified papers of American intelligence agencies, the wider implications and effects of the program were examined and 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 primary successor state Russia.^[20] By the early 1990s, with the Cold War ending and nuclear arsenals being reduced, political support for SDI collapsed. SDI ended in 1993, when 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.^[21] The program is managed by the Space Development Agency (SDA) as part of the new National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA).^[22][23] 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 if this had anything to do with SDA.^[24]