Definitions for "Strategic Defense Initiative"
Keywords:  reagan, sdi, missile, ballistic, ronald
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) is a U.S. research and development program designed to create an effective defense against nuclear-missile attack, initiated by President Reagan in 1983. As envisioned, the system uses a "layered" defense in which enemy missiles would come under continuous attack from the time they are launched to just before they reach their targets, a total of about 30 minutes. See; Ballistic Missile Defense.
A U.S. research and development program begun during the administration of President Ronald Reagan to develop space-based defensive measures against ballistic missile attack.
A defense system nicknamed "Star Wars" that combined computerized radar monitoring of incoming missiles and shooting them down with automated interceptor missiles. Controversial from the start, the program is being dismantled in the 1990s.