The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the Star Wars program, was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles. The program was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan. [1]

Dec 30, 2024 · Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly known as Star Wars, proposed U.S. strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks—as originally conceived, from the Soviet Union. It was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in a nationwide television address on March 23, 1983.

On March 23, 1983 in a televised address to the nation, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced his intention to embark upon groundbreaking research into a national defense system that could make nuclear weapons obsolete.

During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), otherwise known as "Star Wars," an anti-ballistic missile program that was designed to shoot down nuclear missiles in space.

Our efforts to rebuild America's defenses and strengthen the peace began 2 years ago when we requested a major increase in the defense program. Since then, the amount of those increases we first proposed has been reduced by half, through improvements in management and procurement and other savings.

Jan 18, 2019 · President Ronald Reagan saw the proposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) as a safeguard against the most terrifying Cold War outcome—nuclear annihilation.

Less than a year after that March 1983 speech, the White House established the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), more commonly and derisively known as “Star Wars,” to conduct research into a wide variety of advanced technologies that could be used for land- and space-based missile defense.

Strategic Defense Initiative . President’s Backup Copy: Address on Defense March 23, 1983 . Copy provided by the National Archives and Record Administration of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065 (NSC /BAKSHIAN /RR) MARCH 23. 1983 ... PROPOSED HAS BEEN REDUCED BY HALF THRO UGH ...

On March 23, 1983, in announcing our Strategic Defense Initiative -- SDI -- I put forward the vision of a safer and more secure future for our children and our grandchildren, a future free from the threat of the most dangerous weapon mankind has invented: fast-flying ballistic missiles.

Jan 21, 2024 · Reagan envisioned SDI as a comprehensive missile defense system that would utilize advanced technology, including space-based components, to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missiles. The technical goals of SDI were ambitious.