Strategic Defense Initiative
The mission of the Missile Defense Agency is “to develop, test, and field an integrated, layered, ballistic missile defense system (BMDS) to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies, and friends against all ranges of enemy ballistic missiles in all phases of flight” (History). Today, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the United States’ ballistic missile research and development organization that resulted from the proposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) of 1983, and is just one of the numerous effects of this initiative. The Strategic Defense Initiative was an optimistic program that ultimately helped expedite the end of the Cold War, yet is still a factor of strained U.S. relations with Russia …show more content…
President Gorbachev assumed power of the Soviet Union shortly after the proposal of the Strategic Defense Initiative, while the program was being funded and developed. Though many of the components of the initiative were too advanced for the time, Gorbachev was still nervously skeptical of the program’s unreliability saying, “What we need is Star Peace and not Star Wars” (Mikhail Gorbachev Quotes). Gorbachev’s political democratization efforts coupled with his fear of the United States’ capabilities, defensively and otherwise, ultimately precipitated the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. After the end of the Cold War, President George H. W. Bush intended to adapt and downsize Star Wars to a more limited system run by the reorganized Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), which would utilize ground-based rocket-launched interceptors (Strategic Defense Initiative). However, this program was not able to be fully developed until 2001, with President George W. Bush’s commitment to to missile defense and withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 …show more content…
The Treaty states both the United States’ and Russia’s obligations not to “possess, produce or flight-test a ground-launched cruise missile with a range capability of 500 to 5,500 kilometers, or to possess or produce launchers of such missiles” (Starr). In addition to this violation, several U.S. Navy warships have experienced unsafe encounters with Russian aircraft; The United States is currently attempting to return Russia to compliance (Starr).
United States missile defense is not only concerned with Russian relations, but with those of other Asian countries, such as North Korea, as well. The emergence of ballistic nuclear missile threats from the country has called for increased precautionary defensive measures from South Korea and the United States. This week, a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system was installed in South Korea, “designed to intercept and destroy short and medium-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight”, in an effort to further protect the two countries from nuclear attacks (North Korea
The mission of the Missile Defense Agency is “to develop, test, and field an integrated, layered, ballistic missile defense system (BMDS) to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies, and friends against all ranges of enemy ballistic missiles in all phases of flight” (History). Today, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is the United States’ ballistic missile research and development organization that resulted from the proposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) of 1983, and is just one of the numerous effects of this initiative. The Strategic Defense Initiative was an optimistic program that ultimately helped expedite the end of the Cold War, yet is still a factor of strained U.S. relations with Russia …show more content…
President Gorbachev assumed power of the Soviet Union shortly after the proposal of the Strategic Defense Initiative, while the program was being funded and developed. Though many of the components of the initiative were too advanced for the time, Gorbachev was still nervously skeptical of the program’s unreliability saying, “What we need is Star Peace and not Star Wars” (Mikhail Gorbachev Quotes). Gorbachev’s political democratization efforts coupled with his fear of the United States’ capabilities, defensively and otherwise, ultimately precipitated the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. After the end of the Cold War, President George H. W. Bush intended to adapt and downsize Star Wars to a more limited system run by the reorganized Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), which would utilize ground-based rocket-launched interceptors (Strategic Defense Initiative). However, this program was not able to be fully developed until 2001, with President George W. Bush’s commitment to to missile defense and withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 …show more content…
The Treaty states both the United States’ and Russia’s obligations not to “possess, produce or flight-test a ground-launched cruise missile with a range capability of 500 to 5,500 kilometers, or to possess or produce launchers of such missiles” (Starr). In addition to this violation, several U.S. Navy warships have experienced unsafe encounters with Russian aircraft; The United States is currently attempting to return Russia to compliance (Starr).
United States missile defense is not only concerned with Russian relations, but with those of other Asian countries, such as North Korea, as well. The emergence of ballistic nuclear missile threats from the country has called for increased precautionary defensive measures from South Korea and the United States. This week, a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system was installed in South Korea, “designed to intercept and destroy short and medium-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight”, in an effort to further protect the two countries from nuclear attacks (North Korea