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.

Mar 5, 2025 · 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.

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.

Jul 18, 2018 · 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 21, 2024 · The Strategic Defense Initiative, or “Star Wars,” represents a pivotal chapter in the history of defense policy and technology. Conceived during a time of heightened Cold War tensions, SDI sparked debates on the feasibility, strategic implications, and economic costs of pursuing a space-based missile defense system.

Oct 15, 2021 · 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 strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles).

The research took a number of forms which collectively were called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI. The heart of the SDI program was a plan to develop a space-based missile defense program that could protect the country from a large-scale nuclear attack.

Star Wars may have been a transformative movie, but SDI transformed our national security. Opening on March 15, 2024, join us at the Reagan Library for a fun and informative exhibition on Star Wars – both the real-world technology of SDI, as well as items from the movie phenomenon.

On March 23 rd, 1983, President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, signaling a massive paradigm shift in U.S. policy on nuclear policy. Dubbed “Star Wars” after the 1977 movie, SDI represented Reagan’s rejection of Mutual Assured Destruction.