Strategic Defense Initiative

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Edward Teller (right, with Ronald Reagan), the father of the hydrogen bomb , was one of the inventors and strongest supporters of the SDI program

The Strategic Defense Initiative ( SDI , German  Strategic Defense Initiative ) is an initiative launched by US President Ronald Reagan during a tense phase of the Cold War against the Soviet Union and officially ordered on March 23, 1983 to build up a defense shield against ICBMs . An alternative name of the program - based on the science fiction film Star Wars (original title: Star Wars ) - Star Wars . The program, which had been interrupted since the 1990s, i.e. since the end of the Cold War, was taken up again by the Clinton administration under a new name as National Missile Defense (NMD) and under Bush Jr. continued.

scope

A number of extensive research and development projects were part of SDI . SDI saw the establishment of a modern belt, land-, sea-, air- and space-based weapons systems from the Soviet ICBMs should intercept. The initiative was also called the “ Star Wars program” in public . Were provided u. a. the development of X-ray lasers ( Project Excalibur, Excalibur Plus and Super Excalibur ), end-phase controlled kinetic projectile weapons ( Project Brilliant Pebbles ) and Railguns ( Project Jedi ). By 1988, the US government had invested around $ 29 billion in the project. When the results fell far short of expectations at this point in time, the US parliament cut funding significantly. This also led to a crisis in the field of artificial intelligence research, as many SDI-related projects were funded by DARPA as part of the Strategic Computing Initiative that was running in parallel . The so-called AI winter followed, which also heralded the end of the Lisp machines .

Indeed, the X-ray laser developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has long been the focus of interest; According to some observers, his speculative abilities were even one of the causal motivations for the entire project. This concept, which was propagated by Edward Teller and essentially based on theories of Peter Hagelstein and George Chapline Jr. , was supposed to result from the detonation of a hydrogen bomb outside the Earth's atmosphere X-rays in numerous independently aligned laser resonators are amplified, focused and directed at enemy missiles shortly after the launch, in whose structure the rays should then cause shock waves leading to destruction . This concept was investigated experimentally in the context of underground nuclear weapons tests on the Nevada Test Site in the years 1979–1986. Ultimately, however, no proof of actual functionality could be provided, so this concept was abandoned in 1987.

Instead, from 1989 the “Brilliant Pebbles” concept came into focus again. Thousands of small interception satellites were to be placed independently in the earth's orbit, in the event of an attack to autonomously take an intercept course for enemy missiles and warheads and ultimately destroy the targets through collisions. This concept survived the change of government from Ronald Reagan to George Bush , but was limited in scope against the backdrop of the end of the Cold War under the title "Global Protection Against Limited Strikes" (GPALS). In the years 1990–1992 several tests were carried out, but they did not produce satisfactory results. With the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization set up by Bush's successor Bill Clinton , which in turn preferred ground-based interceptor missiles, this project also ended.

Although the Strategic Defense Initiative today is generally considered a failure, there have been some developments from it that have endured: The PAC-3 version of the MIM-104 Patriot emerged from the "Extended Range Interceptor" project for short-range defense . The “High Endoatmospheric Defense Interceptor” rocket (HEDI) developed by Hughes Aircraft , Aerojet and McDonnell Douglas became the basis of today's ground-based interceptor system. The laser used in the Boeing YAL-1 and the tactical high energy laser also benefited from developments within the framework of the SDI program. Many developments in the field of sensor technology were also used in a sustainable manner.

Political effects

Drawing of a US ASAT system, 1983
Anti-satellite missile developed by SDI : Launch of a Vought ASM-135 ASAT

The risk of a global nuclear war would have risen considerably if one of the two blocs had believed that it was “safe” from the opponent's second strike . Ultimately, through the SDI, Reagan wanted to shift the balance of terror in favor of the United States so that the United States would be able to destroy the USSR but be protected from a counter-attack. At the same time, however, the SDI increased the incentive for the USSR to carry out a first nuclear strike against the USA before it was protected by the newly developed weapons. From this point of view, the SDI was a direct threat to world peace.

A number of political observers attributed the dissolution of the Soviet Union largely to the SD initiative, which had shown the USSR to be technically and economically behind. Accordingly, the Soviet Union could no longer sustain an arms race in space economically. However, the majority of experts attribute the end of the Soviet Union to the internal, political process in the SU that was set in motion by Mikhail Gorbachev .

The Soviet attitude towards the SDI between March 1983 and November 1985 clearly shows that they saw the program as both a threat and an opportunity to weaken NATO . SDI was likely viewed not only as a threat to the physical security of the Soviet Union, but also as part of the United States' effort to take strategic initiative in arms control by neutralizing the military component of Soviet strategy. The Kremlin, however, masked its real concerns, taking the view that space-based missile defense would make nuclear war inevitable.

One of the main motifs of Soviet strategy was the political separation of Western Europe and the United States. As part of this, the USSR sought to reinforce perceived doubts in Europe about both the SDI's potential and its relevance to Europe's security and economic interests. The Soviet tendency to see SDI as a sham was further reinforced by their assessment of US intentions and technical capabilities.

At a meeting of the United States' National Press Club in 1986, astrophysicist Carl Sagan summed up what several Soviet commentators had said about the SDI program. Accordingly, this would be equated with provoking an economic war through a renewed arms race in the field of defense measures to deliberately weaken the Soviet economy through unnecessary expenditure. Another, less widely accepted interpretation was that the goal of the USA was to obtain the possibility of a nuclear first strike via SDI without having to fear retaliation from the USSR.

Critics of the SDI program pointed out that there are various contracts to disarmament and arms limitation and control contrary to, inter alia the ABM Treaty of 1972, the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water of 1963 and the Space Treaty of 1967. With the end of the Cold War , the strategic benefits were increasingly called into question.

Results

Despite all efforts and the development of new weapons, which were allegedly developed within the framework of the SDI and the BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense, see below), the project is now considered a failure in critical circles because the previous missile defense tests were not very successful. In addition, the systems were further developed on the Soviet and Russian side (such as the SS-27 ), so that a reliable firing of all warheads is less likely.

status

Under President Bill Clinton , SDI was reduced in 1993 and transferred to the successor program Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) in 1994 . From 2002 National Missile Defense (NMD, National Missile Defense ) called and organizationally to the Missile Defense Agency together (MDA). Associated with this was the abandonment of space-based energy weapons and a focus on anti-missile missiles . The project of a "defense against a limited attack with ballistic missiles" was passed by law under Bill Clinton in 1999.

It was followed up by President George W. Bush , who saw the United States threatened by a possible missile attack. As " rogue states ", which could carry out such attacks, were u. a. Called North Korea , until spring 2003 also Iraq . Further developments of the Patriot - anti-aircraft missile system's Anti-Ballistic short- and medium-range missiles were in the THAAD project together and were promising. The defense against a whole fleet of ICBMs - and thus the much-invoked "protective shield" - is still considered technically impossible by many independent scientists.

The Federal Republic of Germany and SDI 1986

On April 18, 1985, Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU) announced in a government statement that he approved the US armaments research program SDI, but made German participation dependent on certain conditions being met. The SPD parliamentary group had already committed itself to an unconditional “No” to SDI on April 2, 1985.

Contemporary protest: graffito on a West German facade

In an open letter to Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl on July 3, 1985, more than 350 German scientists refused to participate in the SDI program because the stationing of weapon systems in space would destroy the last hopes for disarmament.

On January 11, 1986, Federal Minister of Economics Martin Bangemann (FDP) traveled to the USA on behalf of the Federal Cabinet of Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl to start negotiations on a technology exchange and conditions for the participation of German companies and institutions in SDI research. After the negotiations were over, Bangemann stated that the federal government “politically supported” the SDI program, but had no intention of participating in it or making money available for it.

On March 19, 1986, at a meeting at the Grafenwoehr military training area , Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and US Defense Minister Caspar Weinberger reached general agreement on the Agreement on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and on technology transfer.

On March 28, 1986, the two secret agreements between the United States and Germany were signed by Federal Minister of Economics Martin Bangemann and US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in Washington, DC .

At a forum of the 51st meeting of the German Physical Society (DPG) on April 2, 1987, the scientists were of the opinion that the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) planned by the USA could not be implemented.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991, implementation of the agreement was not pursued any further.

Fiction and pop culture

  • The sci-fi novel Silver Tower by Dale Brown is set on a space station that is equipped with a system (called Skybolt) to defend against ICBMs in order to prevent a Soviet invasion of Iran. This station reappears in Brown's 2007 novel Strike Force .
  • Tom Clancy's novel The Cardinal in the Kremlin deals with a race between the US and the USSR to develop a laser-based SDI system.
  • In Homer Hickam's novel Back to the Moon , remnants of some SDI weapons are used to kill the crew of the Columbia shuttle.
  • The novel Warday by Whitley Strieber describes a nuclear preemptive strike by the USSR against the United States in order to prevent the establishment of a comprehensive defensive shield, such as the SDI provides.
  • In Larry Bond's novel Cauldron , Brilliant Pebbles were also stationed in orbit as part of the GPALS system . These are used to destroy French and German military satellites.
  • The Civilization video game series contains several references to defense systems against ICBMs, much like the SDI.
  • In 1986 Cinemaware published the arcade game S.DI , which has the SDI program as the focus of the action in an alternative timeline.
  • The comedy film What a Genius tells the story of a group of physics students who are deceived into developing a space laser-based weapon system for the Air Force.
  • In RoboCop is mentioned in a news article as the defense platform Peace suffers a malfunction in space, crashing and causing devastation in California.
  • Spies Like Us follows a duo of 'spies' assigned to fire a Soviet missile at the US to justify an expansion of the SDI program.
  • In the second season of the 2010 television series Nikita , a rogue government tries to blackmail the US president using an abandoned SDI laser.
  • In the final episode of the television series The A-Team , a girl steals fake plans for an SDI system, assuming they are real, to prevent her father from selling them to Soviet agents.

See also

literature

  • John O'Sullivan: The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World. Regnery Publishing, Inc., November 2006. - ISBN 1-59698-016-8 ( see Taylor Dinerman, SDI and the end of the Cold War ).
  • Frances Fitzgerald: Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars and the End of the Cold War. - 592 pp. - New York: Simon & Schuster, March 2001. - ISBN 0-7432-0023-3 ( see [1] ).
  • Peter Althainz et al .: Forum “Scientists for Peace and Disarmament” / Association of Democratic Scientists e. V. (Ed.): Militarization of space. - Series of publications: Science and Peace, Volume 2. - 96 pages. - Marburg: BdWi-Verlag, July 1984. - ISBN 3-924684-01-4 , ( content: [2] ).
  • Steven E. Miller: The star wars controversy. Princeton Univ. Pr., Princeton, New Jersey, 1986, ISBN 0-691-07713-4 .
  • Jeffrey D.Boutwell: On the defensive? The future of SDI. Aspen Strategy Group., Aspen 1988, ISBN 0-8191-7021-6 .
  • Stephen J. Cimbala: The technology, strategy and politics of SDI. Westview., Boulder 1987, ISBN 0-8133-7116-3 .
  • Niklas Reinke: History of the German space policy. Concepts, influencing factors and interdependencies: 1923–2002 , Munich 2004, ISBN 3-486-56842-6
  • SWR2 radio feature on SDI - high technology between Reagan and the Stasi (Michael Hänel, SWR2, November 7, 2016, 28 min).
  • Hans Rühle , Michael Rühle: SDI. Opportunity, pipe dream, danger? . Report Verlag, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1990, ISBN 3-524-89007-5 .

Web links

Commons : Strategic Defense Initiative  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Missile Defense - Technical Aspects and Scientific Background Information Letter Scientific Services of the German Bundestag, October 10, 2007, bundestag.de (PDF, accessed on February 14, 2011; 2.1 MB).
  2. ↑ Wayne Biddle: 'STAR WARS TECHNOLOGY': IT'S MORE THAN A FANTASY. New York Times, March 5, 1985, Article Preview , accessed March 20, 2012
  3. ^ Richard L. Garwin: How many orbiting lasers for boost-phase intercept ?. Nature 315, pp. 286-290, May 23, 1985, doi : 10.1038 / 315286a0
  4. ↑ July 19-25: X-Ray Laser Zapped The New York Times, July 26, 1992.
  5. ↑ 'Brilliant Pebbles'? No, Loose Marbles The New York Times, June 17, 1989, accessed February 13, 2011.
  6. ↑ William J. Broad: Teller's was - the top secret story behind the star wars deception. Simon & Schuster, New York 1992, ISBN 0-671-70106-1 , p. 139.
  7. ↑ Summary and evaluation of the Strategic Defense Initiative Space Power Architecture Study, NASA Glenn Research Center 1989, Abstract , online ntrs.nasa.gov, PDF, accessed on February 14, 2011.
  8. ↑ STAR WARS DOLLARS Defense contractors line up early to get in on a coming space-age bonanza. money.cnn.com, accessed March 7, 2012.
  9. ↑ http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/~rfmoeller/symbolics-info/Symbolics.pdf ( Memento from May 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Uchrinscko, Karl W, "Threat and Opportunity: The Soviet View of the Strategic Defense Initiative" ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Naval Postgraduate School, December 1986 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / oai.dtic.mil
  11. ^ Benjamin S. Lambeth and Kevin Lewis, "The Kremlin and SDI" , Foreign Affairs published by The Council on Foreign Relations, from Spring 1988 Issue
  12. ^ Carl Sagan The Risk of Nuclear War (1986), National Press Club
  13. ↑ Star wars and outer space law Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Oct. 1985, @ google books, accessed February 14, 2011.