Strategic Defense Initiative

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a plan created by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983Federation of American Scientists. Missile Defense Milestones . Accessed March 10, 2006. to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on defense instead on the offensive mutual assured destruction (MAD). It was nicknamed "Star Wars" by the public and by critics, a reference to the Star Wars space opera movie series, because they regarded the program as science fiction, extremely expensive, and for creating tensions with the Soviet Union and for increasing the arms race.

See also

 Anti-ballistic missile
 Anti-satellite weapon
 Nuclear arms race
 Space race
 United States Space Force

 Notes 

Category:Cold War
Category:Military of the United States
Category:Presidency of Ronald Reagan
Category:Military-industrial complex