Strategic Defense Initiative
 Team G
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Shane Murray
Leah Matthews
Shaun Mahoney
Bill Price
Patrick Quast
Strategic Defense
Initiative
Concept-History-Scope
By: Shane Murray
Concept
 Destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles bound
for United States territory
 Interceptor Missiles/Lasers
 Ground and Spaced Based Weapons
 Missiles based from land
 Lasers on satellites orbiting over United States
 “Like hitting a bullet with a bullet”
 Missiles traveled nearly 16,000 mph
 Unrealistic
History
 Cold War Nuclear
Arms Race
 USSR created need for
a national defense
system.
 1983 President Ronald
Reagan proposed SDI
plan
 In direct violation of
1972 Anti-ballistic
Missile Treaty (ABM)
Scope
 SDI project re-routed as National Missile
Defense (NMD)
 Battlefield sized SDI
 Destroy missiles on smaller scale over a specific
battlefield
 Iraqi SCUD missile
 NMD becomes heavily funded with nuclear
proliferation at a new high
 Korea, Iraq, Syria and Libya all obtain nuclear arms
Sensor systems
 ex) Radars: they perform signal
processing on data perceived by the
sensor
 Imaging radar
 A single computer incorporated into the radar
would perform the processing, storage, and
analysis
 Interceptor
 Can locate and destroy missiles on their own
 Would provide continuous world-wide
coverage against limited or accidental ballistic
missile strikes.
 Using already produced, commercial
computers could be cheaper and
simpler if software was just created
for the computers
 More reliable and efficient, less
expensive
 Software development would not have to
wait for the hardware, in case schedules
are not met.
 Computers can also help with communication
among the battle managers, sensors, and
weapons
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Space to space
Space to ground
Ground to space
Info transmitted would be digitally encoded
Info is transmitted10^7 bits/second
Examples of topics of communication
 Location of targets and weapons
 Status of resources
 Decisions that have been made
 Can predict the behavior of different system
designs
 To anticipate threats against the system
 To model different ways in which the system will
work
 Provide realistic environment in which the system
might work
 To test the functioning of the system as a whole,
both before and after deployment
 Example:
 A computer that would be used in an aircraft can be
tested for durability during flight
Pros And Cons Of
Strategic Defensive
Initiative
By Shaun Mahoney
Pros
Protection from a Nuclear Attack
Feasible Technology
Now Affordable
Very High Protection Rate Of
Oncoming Attacks
 More Jobs
 Safety
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Cons
 Little Success or Accuracy
 Radiation
 Costs For Program Could Be Used For
Other Expenses For The Country
 Might Never Be Used
Creator and Supporter
 Former U.S. President Ronald
Reagan
 Introduced the program in
1980’s at the height of the
Cold War
 Believed that such a program
was necessary to defend our
country against incoming
attacks by hostile nations
(particularly the Soviet Union)
Current Supporter
 President George W. Bush
 The S.D.I program was a major
part of his 2000 Presidential
campaign
 Reintroduced the program after
Former President Clinton
demoted it during his presidency
 Sources within the White House
confirm that the Bush
administration has conducted
secret research that could
produce a powerful ground-base
laser meant to shatter enemy
satellites
Miscellaneous Support
 The United States State
Department- One official
quoted in 2006 as saying
“Our government will
continue to consider possible
role that space-related
weapons may play in
protecting our assets.”
 The Pentagon- Announced
the results of three tests of
missile interceptors over the
Pacific Ocean, making clear
that they are considering
weapons of S.D.I. nature
Current and Future Support
 Poll of Mother’s in four states (Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Florida, and Wisconsin)
found that they too support a missile
defense system
 Participant's believed that a missile
defense system would make them feel
safer and would like one developed as
soon as possible
 However, this poll was conducted by the
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA)
Opponents of SDI
Main Opponents
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Congress
Press/Media
American Public
Military Contractors
Congress-Main Reasons
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Potential for Public Embarrassment
Huge Bill
Need for expanded taxes
Upset Tax Payers
Defense Contractors
 The Holy Grail of Defense Contracts
 Too expensive
 Too complicated
 Just out of reach in terms of a finished
product
American Public
 Fear of if something went wrong, there
would be no back up
 Soviet Hacking
 Against raised taxes