It was a military program launched by former US President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Officially called SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative), it intended to create a system of satellites equipped with laser cannons to destroy missiles sent against the country. In the middle of the Cold War, both the USA and the Soviet Union had weapons capable of liquidating their rivals, but they did not risk it, because they feared mutual annihilation. With SDI, the balance would tip in favor of the Yankees. The idea had such a science-fiction feel that it earned this “cinematic nickname” – and, in fact, it never got off the ground.
May the laser be with you
Idea never came to fruition, but contributed to the end of the Cold War
1. SDI provided for the integration between orbiting satellites, giant mirrors, earth bases and other equipment. Space radars would identify an enemy missile at the moment of its launch, and it would be up to laser beams or ground missiles to destroy the artifact. The far-fetched strategy would take 20 years to complete and had an estimated cost of US$ 200 billion
2.President Ronald Reagan wasn’t completely crazy in defending the initiative. At the same time, in a test in the secret base of the Marshall Islands, in the North Pacific, American scientists had managed, for the first time, to use a guided missile to destroy a nuclear projectile in mid-flight
3. But SDI’s technical difficulties went far beyond intercepting the missile in motion. Scientists questioned the laser effectiveness on air density at this level of the atmosphere. There were also questions about the technologies that would control them. And the system would not make the US 100% protected, as it did not propose defense for submarine or aircraft attacks.
4. At the time, the US was living an “armed peace” with the USSR. The military balance prevented rivals from attacking each other with their nuclear arsenals. SDI would tip the scales in favor of the Americans, so the news put the Russians on high alert. Four years later, they responded with the launch of Polyus ship, also equipped with a laser cannon
5. Even without being completed, the SDI contributed to giving a end to the Cold War. Polyus was a money drain that further weakened the USSR economy. And it ended up at the bottom of the Pacific – no one knows if it suffered a mechanical failure or was overthrown by the government itself, as then-President Mikhail Gorbachev wanted an end to tensions with the US.
6. The Star Wars project was shelved in 1993 but never completely forgotten. Bill Clinton proposed a new version, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, but that too did not see the light of day. George W. Bush to revived in 2001, under the name of the Missile Defense Agency. Severely criticized, she was buried for good by Barack Obama
CURIOSITY
SDI inspired a game of the same name by Sega in 1987. The player had to use laser weapons to destroy missiles and enemy satellites
SOURCES
Sites GUIDE DO ESTUDANTE, Folha de S.Paulo, Le Monde Diplomatique and Academic Space