Star Wars and Strategic Defense Initiative
1980s Arms Race:
The USSR had a 3:2 advantage in sheer numbers
New issue is how to deliver them
Cruise missiles are placed in Europe by NATO
‘Smart Weapons’- planes, weapons and even tanks begin to be controlled by computer and are
‘guided’
Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) “Star Wars”:
The Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) - Also known as “Star Wars”; wanted to have a defensive umbrella over the U.S. to shoot down incoming missiles from space
Soviets could not afford to keep up with this kind of science
The arms race would not fizzle out until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985
The USSR had a 3:2 advantage in sheer numbers
New issue is how to deliver them
Cruise missiles are placed in Europe by NATO
‘Smart Weapons’- planes, weapons and even tanks begin to be controlled by computer and are
‘guided’
Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) “Star Wars”:
The Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) - Also known as “Star Wars”; wanted to have a defensive umbrella over the U.S. to shoot down incoming missiles from space
Soviets could not afford to keep up with this kind of science
The arms race would not fizzle out until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985