Strategic Defense Initiative
전략방위구상
A space-based missile defense research program announced by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Conceived to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles at every phase of flight, its stated goal was to render nuclear weapons 'impotent and obsolete,' and it was widely nicknamed 'Star Wars.' SDI fundamentally challenged the Cold War doctrine of mutual assured destruction and became the central sticking point of U.S.-Soviet arms control negotiations, most notably at the 1986 Reykjavik Summit where Gorbachev insisted it be confined to laboratory research.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) program announcement (March 23, 1983), nickname 'Star Wars,' SDIO establishment (1984), APS report (1987), transition to BMDO (1993)
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian name СОИ, nickname Звёздные войны, goals, technical components, Soviet response
- armscontrol.org SDI as obstacle at 1986 Reykjavik Summit, Gorbachev's demand for laboratory confinement, Soviet view as first-strike enabler
- ahf.nuclearmuseum.org Reagan's 1967 Teller meeting, NORAD visit motivation, MAD and ABM Treaty context