Low-cost countermeasures like radar decoys required additional interceptors to counter. Truman's decisions shaped it by enormously increasing wars and deaths and war-dismemberments and destructions and refugees, and especially by creating (and most especially by the continued cooperation of all U.S. Presidents since the time of GHW Bush who secretly decided to . Technical criticism[58] based upon unclassified calculations suggested that the X-ray laser would be of at best marginal use for missile defense. In 1985, for example, physicist Wolfgang Panofsky wrote in Physics Today, ABM defense technology deserves further research within treaty limits, but the Star Wars program is too large, too political, raises false hopes and poses grave dangers to national and world security. Members of the Reagan administration, however, pushed back against this notion. nuclear sharing This device would destroy the ICBM reentry vehicle on collision. Although the Soviet military budget remained a closely guarded secret, some American estimates concluded that it accounted for 15-17% of the Soviet Unions annual GDP. Russian/Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems - Air Power Australia START (or Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) nuclear winter The treaty limited each side to have one limited ABM system to protect its capital and another to protect an ICBM launch area, and the signatories agreed not to develop, test, or deploy [additional] ABM launchers. ABM recognized the reality that an anti-ballistic missile system would actually make both sides less secure because it would undermine the balance of mutually assured destruction. This account was also confirmed by Teller, who wrote, Fifteen years later, I discovered that [Reagan] had been very interested in those ideas (Teller 509). Research out of hypervelocity railgun technology was done to build an information base about railguns so that SDI planners would know how to apply the technology to the proposed defense system. In theory, an advanced opponent could have targeted those, in turn requiring self-defense capability or increased numbers to compensate for attrition. Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Jim Southey, Steve Thompson Bell Labs pointed out that although longer-range missiles flew much faster, their longer flight times would address the timing issue and their very high altitudes would make long-range detection by radar easier. The CIM-10B Bomarc was the world's first long-range, nuclear capable, ground-to-air anti-aircraft missile. The announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia would suspend its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) brings an unwelcome degree of clarity to a situation the United States almost certainly would have to face three years from now. Features of SDIincluded early warning systems, missile interception systems and research into the use of armed satellites. During the Cold War, Washington and Moscow came together over landmark arms control agreements. The Mysterious End of Scientists who Worked on Reagan's 'Star Wars' Program "This is a clear emotional and psychological. Without Reagan to support it, SDIs funding plummeted in the early 1990s. The unique Cold War-era relic is part of an 11-acre Kansas lot on the market for $380,000. rollback Other spin-offs include research on advanced materials like SEAgel and Aerogel, the Electron-Beam Ion Trap facility for physics research, and enhanced techniques for early detection of breast cancer. This process was initiated during the Soviet military occupation and overseen by Soviet agents and loyalists. Team B self-determination The Securitate was the secret police force of socialist Romania for much of the Cold War. Reagan pitched building an ambitious anti-missile system in 1983 dubbed "Star Wars." The R&D effort, which included space-based lasers, was sidetracked by funding shortfalls and the collapse of. The satellite observed several ballistic missile launches including some releasing liquid propellant as a countermeasure to detection. With both devices reportedly designed to pre-emptively destroy any US satellites that might be launched in the future which could otherwise aid US missile defense. The Marshall Plan was a name given to the European Recovery Plan (ERP). That is, attacking elements of the defensive system. ping pong diplomacy The need for an effective anti-ballistic missile system grew considerably in Reagans eyes after he visited the headquarters of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in 1979. 'A fighting war with the main enemy': How the CIA helped land a mortal The Peacekeeper program began in 1971 as the missile experimental (MX) system as a way to increase the U.S. counterstrike capabilities against the Soviet Union, which at the time was focusing on constructing hardened shelters and missile defense systems. We thought it was wacko (Rhodes 206). Tet Offensive The NORAD headquarters are located deep inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, a military bunker near Colorado Springs. Pro-Moscow communists were installed as leaders of these combined parties. During the 20th century, Western imperial powers like Britain and France withdrew from colonies in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Nearly $13 billion in U.S. aid was sent to Europe from. The Missile Age begins when German V-2 missiles -- which have one-ton payloads and travel faster than the speed of sound -- strike London during World War II. These negotiations culminated in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which went into effect in 1988, and laid the groundwork for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in the 1990s. It was the ideology that underpinned socialism in the Soviet Union and other Soviet bloc nations. A neutron bomb is a thermonuclear weapon that delivers high amounts of radiation but with low explosive yield. Defense suppression. Britain put its own work aside and joined the Manhattan Project as a junior partner in 1943. URL: https://alphahistory.com/coldwar/cold-war-glossary-m-z/ You do away with yours (Shultz 260). It has been written and compiled by Alpha History authors. The Truman Doctrine demonstrated that the United States would not return to isolationism after World War II, but rather take an active role in world affairs. [106], George Lucas, Lucasfilm CEO and the creator of Star Wars, sued Reagan for stealing the name based on his franchise. There were several Olympic boycotts during the Cold War. [46] Also, instead of making plans to protect against thousands of incoming missiles, the GPALS system sought to provide flawless protection from up to two hundred nuclear missiles. Non-Aligned Movement (or NAM) Politburo The Pebbles were designed in such a way that autonomous operation, without further external guidance from planned SDI sensor systems, was possible. The Strategic Defense Initiative became a key negotiating point in a series of meetings between Reagan and Gorbachev: the Geneva Summit (1985), the Reykjavik Summit (1986), the Washington Summit (1987), and the Moscow Summit (1988). The Second Cold War is sometimes used to describe the post-Dtente revival of tensions during the early 1980s. Political scientist Kerry L. Hunter explained this phenomenon: The power of Reagans Star Wars visionlay in its utopian characteristics. The technology was also used to develop the Tactical High Energy Laser, (THEL) which is being tested to shoot down artillery shells.[64]. Post-colonialism refers to the period following colonial rule and the effects on societies ruled by colonial powers. Nuclear sharing is the Cold War practice of sharing American nuclear weapons with its NATO partners. [citation needed] Furthermore, the MAD argument was criticized on the grounds that MAD only covered intentional, full-scale nuclear attacks by a rational, non-suicidal opponent with similar values. Whereas the current United States national missile defense system is designed around a relatively limited and unsophisticated attack, SDI planned for a massive attack by a sophisticated opponent. Rather than manifesting as a traditional conflict waged through extensive use of weapons, the Cold War was conducted using propaganda, political hostility, and threats. The USSR would join this alliance following Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia by Nazi Germany. 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? he said. If they're like probably 90% of the population, they don't intend to make any big lifestyle changes or sacrifices to combat whatever climate change is occurring, and that's if it actually is occurring. [84], A major objective of that strategy was the political separation of Western Europe from the United States, which the Soviets sought to facilitate by aggravating allied concern over the SDI's potential implications for European security and economic interests. It appealed both to the desire for security against nuclear war and to the belief in the superiority of American technological achievements. MI5 McCarran Act If you would like to suggest a term for inclusion in this glossary, please, Cold War memory quiz events 1945 to 1950, Cold War memory quiz events 1950 to 1959, Cold War memory quiz events 1980 to 1991, Cold War memory quiz terms and concepts (I), Cold War memory quiz terms and concepts (II). Byrnes assured listeners that the US would protect German sovereignty and, in time, support a return to German self government. During this period nuclear fallout and other debris lingers in the atmosphere, blocking out sunlight. On the one side are the United States and its East Asian and . A Brief History of U.S. Navy Fleet Ballistic Missiles and Submarines U-2 These particles are disbursed by weather and eventually fall to earth. The Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) program was part of SDI's Theater Missile Defense Program and was an extension of the Flexible Lightweight Agile Guided Experiment (FLAGE), which included developing hit-to-kill technology and demonstrating the guidance accuracy of a small, agile, radar-homing vehicle. Contains words and terms from M to Z. The High Precision Tracking Experiment (HPTE), launched with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-G, was tested June 21, 1985, when a Hawaii-based low-power laser successfully tracked the experiment and bounced the laser off of the HPTE mirror. The Treaty of Brussels was a 1948 agreement between five European states: Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The United States must defend its homeland, its forces and its friends and allies against these threats. The anti-ballistic missile program was once again renamed, this time as the National Defense Agency (NDA). It was detonated in remote northern Russia in 1961. Early deployment plans were met with little interest, but by the late 1960s, public meetings on the Sentinel system were met by thousands of angry protesters. Socialism is a political system which aims to transition from capitalism to communism. START I was the first treaty to provide for deep reductions of U.S. and Soviet/Russian strategic nuclear weapons. This page was last edited on 13 February 2023, at 08:35. [22], The US Army had considered the issue of ballistic missile defense (BMD) as early as late in World War II. Or with that defense, he could then say to them, I am willing to do away with all my missiles. The Viet Minh was a Vietnamese nationalist-communist group, led by Ho Chi Minh. [31], Development of laser weapons in the Soviet Union began in 19641965. They believed that the only way to stop the threat of nuclear war was through diplomacy and dismissed the idea of a technical solution to the Cold War, saying that a defense shield could be viewed as threatening because it would limit or destroy Soviet offensive capabilities while leaving the American offense intact. Thermonuclear weapons were first tested by the US (1952) and the Soviet Union (1954). Its policymakers wanted to contain Soviet communism to keep Europe and the world free for US companies and American trade. Ostpolitik A parallel developmental program advanced laboratory X-ray lasers[60] for biological imaging and the creation of 3D holograms of living organisms. The Viet Cong was a Western term for the National Liberation Front, or NLF, a group of communist guerrillas who operated inSouth Vietnamese and between 1959 and 1975. Polling data from the 1980s supports this notion. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (or NATO) [20] Early development contracts were awarded to L3Harris and SpaceX. NORAD is a joint US-Canadian military command centre, tasked with monitoring North American airspace for a possible attack. [80], The Delta 183 program used a satellite known as Delta Star to test several sensor related technologies. It was one of the Cold Wars most repressive and brutal security forces. For each test a Minuteman missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying a single mock re-entry vehicle targeted for Kwajalein lagoon more than 4,000 miles (6,400km) away. It was used to described reforms implemented by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in the mid 1980s. [16] After the publication of the APS report, SDI's budget was repeatedly cut. mujahideen Point Alpha, or Observation Post Alpha, was a US Army lookout in West Germany, close to the border with West Germany. In Ukraine Crisis, the Looming Threat of a New Cold War ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEFEND THE MOTHERLAND SOVIET CONSTRUCTION MEMORIAL TO THE VICTOR SCHOOL SHOOTINGS COLD PART IS OVER AFTER THE COLD WAR IN HOT WATER COMMUNIST PARADISE POST-COLD WAR ERA FALL OF COMMUNISM EUROPEAN WALLS REPLACING USSR DOMINO EFFECT MEETING IN MALTA HUMPTY DUMPTY REDUCED THE NUCLEAR THREAT CUTTING DOWN ON VODKA US DEFICIT They are colloquially known as hydrogen bombs or H-bombs. used operationally late in the war, was the system most extensively studied arid emulated by the Soviets. During World War II, three countries decided to build the atomic bomb: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. McCarthyism In addition, SDI envisioned many space-based systems in fixed orbits, ground-based sensors, command, control and communications facilities, etc. Nuclear Weapons and the Escalation of the Cold War, 1945-1962 [107], Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS), Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), Boost Surveillance and Tracking System (BSTS), Space Surveillance and Tracking System (SSTS), Frances FitzGerald, "Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars and the End of the Cold War", pg. Shultz suggests that this feeling of helplessness, coupled with the defensive ideas proposed by Teller a decade earlier, combined to form the impetus of the SDI. Reagan's 'Star Wars' Defense Program Promised to Block Nukes - HISTORY These communist parties then obtained control of the government in elections, some of which may have been rigged. the satellite X-ray laser, although it was ultimately ineffective. The Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, was an Asian conflict involving communist North Vietnam, Viet Cong guerrillas, the United States and US-backed South Vietnam. The U-2 was an American spy plane used widely during the Cold War. MAD was firmly instituted as the policy of nuclear deterrence for both sides when President Richard Nixon and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) in 1972. Gorbachev answered dismissively. The U.S. and the Soviets were deep in the Cold War, and Reagan felt that the SDI would provide protection against a Soviet missile attack by intercepting missiles while they were still in the air, according to Atomic Archive. Alternatively, watch this nine-minute explainer video for an overview of the Cold . "[98], In response to this when Teller testified before Congress he stated that "instead of [Bethe] objecting on scientific and technical grounds, which he thoroughly understands, he now objects on the grounds of politics, on grounds of military feasibility of military deployment, on other grounds of difficult issues which are quite outside the range of his professional cognizance or mine."[99]. Macmillans speech is often cited as a shift in British policy, away from imperialism and towards decolonisation. U-2s were used chiefly to collect surveillance photographs. In 2019, space-based interceptor development resumed for the first time in 25 years with President Trump's signing of the National Defense Authorization Act. At 50 megatons it was the largest nuclear weapon ever constructed and tested. The Space Race refers to American and Soviet competition in rocket technology and space exploration, from the 1950s to around 1975. Opponents disagreed, saying advances in technology, such as using very strong laser beams, and by "bleaching" the column of air surrounding the laser beam, could increase the distance that the X-ray would reach to successfully hit its target. Some members of the mujahideen were later associated with the Taliban and Osama bin Ladens al-Qaeda. Ritter is of course heavily censored on mainstream platforms and is widely condemned by officials in the US government, including those in the State Dept. 1. The Harpoon has also undergone multiple upgrades to improve its range and guidance. [85][86], In 1986 Carl Sagan summarized what he heard Soviet commentators were saying about SDI, with a common argument being that it was equivalent to starting an economic war through a defensive arms race to further cripple the Soviet economy with extra military spending, while another interpretation was that it served as a disguise for the US wish to initiate a first strike on the Soviet Union.[88]. George Shultz, Reagan's secretary of state, suggested that a 1967 lecture by physicist Edward Teller (the so-called "father of the hydrogen bomb") was an important precursor to SDI. [19] The program is currently managed by the Space Development Agency (SDA) as part of the new National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA) envisioned by Michael D. START I - The Nuclear Threat Initiative GPALS was approved by President George H.W. revolution Otherwise known as Star Wars, SDI sought to create a space-based shield that would render nuclear missiles obsolete. The granting of support and aid to freedom fighters (anti-communist groups and movements) was at the core of the Reagan Doctrine. These overruns are baked into the system. It overlooked an area of flat land that was considered a likely invasion route for Warsaw Pact tanks. [21] CIA Director Mike Pompeo called for additional funding to achieve a full-fledged Strategic Defense Initiative for our time, the SDI II". SALT I and SALT II were two US-Soviet arms reduction summits, held in 1972 and 1979. The objective of Project A119 was to detonate a large nuclear weapon on the Moon that would be visible to the naked eye. It was tasked with analysing the Soviet military threat to the US. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. The Warsaw Pact was an alliance of European communist nations, formed in 1955. [33][34], A revolver cannon (Rikhter R-23) was mounted on the 1974 Soviet Salyut 3 space station, a satellite that successfully test fired its cannon in orbit. It involved using deliberate signals and sending false information to communist countries, to create the impression that Nixon was unstable and may use nuclear weapons against them.
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