Star Wars

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Star Wars

• Strategic Defence Initiative

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Despite the front cover this has nothing to do
with us
It has to do with the Americans and their fear of
being blown up by nuclear weapons
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Proposed by President Reagan in 1983. A space
based weapons system designed to protect the
United States of America and her allies against
nuclear missile attack using laser technology.
Also known as SDI and Star Wars the programme was
dropped in 1991 following the collapse of the
Soviet Union
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Named after the Star War Series
Proposed by Ronald Reagan on March 23rd 1983
Space based system to prevent nuclear attack
Never implemented, research tailed off after end
of Cold War
Soviets accuse the U.S of violating the 1972
Antiballistic Missile Treaty
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Ok so what was it all about? the Nuclear X-ray
Curtain
A nuclear X-ray curtain was to be deployed by use
of Pop Ups (missiles sent up from Submarines)
These were to be deployed in the crucial seconds
following an attack from Russia
Further missiles would be deployed from Satellites
Nuclear Warheads would be in these Satellites
This looked good on paper but didnt work so the
nuclear X-ray part of the system was dropped
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The Nuclear X-Ray was replaced by a mini
satellite based system known as Brilliant
Eyes/Brilliant Pebbles
The system used a combination of accurate
satellite imaging and a kinetic weapon
The kinetic weapon operated similar to a rail
gun. Plastic beads were accelerated to 1/10th the
speed of light, orbited around the earth once,
and intercepted the missile before its entrance
to the atmosphere.
It was abandoned in 1993 by the Clinton
Administration
However at some point the focus had changed to
developing the technology of the Patriot Missile
Artillery running on rails
Used during the First Gulf War
I.e. a ground based interceptor missile
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The Idea of Brilliant Pebbles
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The Ground Based System
Still part of the system but no longer central
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Son of Star Wars

• A new Initiative by George W. Bush

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Not as complex a plan as the original, the idea
is to have a defensive screen to protect the USA.
The Following slides show you how it works in
theory
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It is important to know about as it can be argued
it breaches a load of treaties signed by US and
USSR during the Cold War
IE the 1972 Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty
This prohibited the development of a national
missile defence system
In retaliation the Russians pulled out of Start II
However in May 2002, a new Arms reduction deal
was signed. Both Countries now only have 2000
nuclear war head each
Signed by Yeltsin and Bush (snr) in 1993
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How it works.
The US missile defence programme is intended to
be a defensive screen for the US and its allies.
Although development is in its early stages, and
the time-scale has yet to be decided, the
finished system is meant to have the ability to
track and destroy incoming ballistic missiles.
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Detection
Early warning satellites and early warning radars
detect and track an incoming missile as soon as
it clears cloud cover. Space-based infrared
satellite systems are also being developed, which
could track ballistic missiles throughout their
trajectory, and provide the earliest possible
trajectory estimates to the command centre.
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Tracking
High-resolution radars on the ground track the
warhead and any decoys. They are able to
discriminate accurately between closely-spaced
objects. The radar provides real-time continuous
tracking data to the command centre, as well as
data from earlier phases of a ballistic missile
trajectory.
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Command Centre
The command centre acts as the brains of the
missile defence system, controlling and
co-ordinating the whole operation. On receiving
information about an incoming missile, it
communicates target information to one or more
ground-based interceptors.
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Interceptor
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Kill vehicle
The kill vehicle uses small on-board rockets to
manoeuvre and collide with the warhead,
destroying both vehicles. It is equipped with a
highly sensitive infrared seeker, and intercepts
incoming missiles at supersonic speed. It must be
able to travel faster than 420 metres per second,
the possible speed of incoming missiles. The kill
vehicle should also be able to operate in nuclear
environments.