Ronald Reagan Strategic Defense Initiative

Ronald Reagan and the Strategic Defense Initiative Program “What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies?” (Address 5). On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan presented his vision of a future with a Nation’s security that did not rest upon the threat of a nuclear retaliation, but on the ability to protect and defend against such attacks. Ronald Reagan broadcasted his idea on upgrading the military's defensive tactics on television. Reagan was giving people hope and safety from a nuclear war. He shared his idea
This program was presented to the Americans by President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 in a television address. Reagan described a program that would “intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil” (“Reagan’s Star Wars” 2). The program originally was assumed as a perfect defense against ICBM attacks. The system would necessitate tremendously advanced technology to intercept any nuclear warheads (“Strategic Defense Initiative” 1). An ICBM has three levels of flight; the boost phase, the midcourse phase, and the terminal phase. With the SDI program, a laser weapon would be used to destroy ICBMs in the boost phase. In ground-based, continental weapons could be used to destroy ICBMs in midcourse phase, and ground-based beam weapons and missile interceptors could be used to destroy ICBMs in the terminal phase. As the program became more realistic and ambiguous, the necessary items for the weapons diminished. Therefore, the initial focus on space-based directed laser weapons gradually shifted toward interest in ground-based kinetic energy weapons. This program was nearly impossible and could never be accomplished, but it frightened the Soviets. The Soviet Union and the United States were in a race to see who was better, and since we were building these defense systems, the Soviets had to build them too. The U.S. had more money than the U.S.S.R.,
The United States were fearful of going into nuclear combat, so to prevent that the idea of having a nuclear defense was thought of. Ronald Reagan came up with an idea of creating the Strategic Defense Initiative Program. He got the government on board and received money to attempt to build his creation. The program was never built, but it led to the fall of the U.S.S.R. and helped inventors advance in technology for everyday use. Russia and the United States had conflicts with each other for a very long time and the conflicts are still happening. The tensions are probably at its highest between the two, since the cold war. Russia and America dislike each other a lot and they are always competing with one another to see who is best. The Russian-American relationship has always been conflicted and still