Strategic Defense Initiative

E16701

Cold War military program United States defense program missile defense program

The Strategic Defense Initiative was a controversial Cold War-era U.S. missile defense program proposed in the 1980s that aimed to develop space- and ground-based systems to protect against nuclear ballistic missile attacks.

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All labels observed (1)

Label	Occurrences
Strategic Defense Initiative canonical	9

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Cold War military program ⓘ United States defense program ⓘ missile defense program ⓘ
aimedTo	develop missile defense system against ballistic nuclear missiles ⓘ render nuclear ballistic missiles less effective or obsolete ⓘ
announcedBy	Ronald Reagan ⓘ
announcedIn	televised national address ⓘ
announcedOn	1983-03-23 ⓘ
budget	tens of billions of U.S. dollars ⓘ
colloquialName	Star Wars ⓘ
controversialFor	high projected costs ⓘ potential to destabilize nuclear deterrence ⓘ technical feasibility concerns ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
criticizedBy	Soviet leadership ⓘ many arms control advocates ⓘ many scientists and engineers ⓘ
evolvedInto	United States Missile Defense Agency ⓘ surface form: Ballistic Missile Defense Organization United States Missile Defense Agency ⓘ surface form: Missile Defense Agency
focus	strategic ballistic missile defense ⓘ
governingBody	United States Missile Defense Agency ⓘ surface form: Strategic Defense Initiative Organization
includedComponent	advanced radar systems ⓘ command, control, and communications systems ⓘ directed-energy weapons research ⓘ ground-based interceptors ⓘ space-based interceptors ⓘ space-based sensors ⓘ
influenced	later U.S. national missile defense programs ⓘ post–Cold War missile defense policy ⓘ
legalContext	Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty ⓘ
mediaNicknameGivenBy	critics ⓘ
mediaNicknameReason	resemblance to science-fiction space warfare in Star Wars films ⓘ
overseenBy	Department of Defense ⓘ surface form: United States Department of Defense
peakActivity	mid-1980s ⓘ
politicalContext	U.S.–Soviet arms race ⓘ nuclear deterrence debate ⓘ
raisedConcernAbout	compliance with Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty ⓘ
researchArea	boost-phase interception ⓘ kinetic kill vehicles ⓘ laser weapons ⓘ midcourse interception ⓘ particle beam weapons ⓘ space-based battle stations ⓘ terminal-phase interception ⓘ
shortName	SDI ⓘ
status	never fully deployed as originally envisioned ⓘ
supportedBy	Reagan administration ⓘ surface form: Ronald Reagan administration U.S. defense hawks ⓘ
timePeriod	1980s ⓘ Cold War ⓘ

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ronald Reagan → notableFor → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ

Strategic Computing Initiative → relatedTo → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ

Edward Teller → supported → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ

Reagan administration → foreignPolicy → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ

SDI → standsFor → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ

Ronald Reagan’s 1985 State of the Union Address → mentions → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ

James A. Abrahamson → participantIn → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ

Star Wars → officialName → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ

subject surface form: Star Wars (Strategic Defense Initiative)

1984 State of the Union Address → mentions → Strategic Defense Initiative ⓘ