US Star Wars Program. Star Wars. American Republic vs. Soviet Empire American Star Wars Project Briefly

On March 23, 1983, President R. Reagan made a televised address to the country from his office in the White House, in which he outlined a breathtakingly fantastic plan for space protection of the US territory from nuclear attacks from the enemy - at that time Soviet Union. The next day, the New York Post summarized what Reagan had said in an article headlined: “Star Wars Will Destroy the Red Missiles,” and since then the announced Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program has become known around the world as "Star Wars"- after the name of the popular film, the third film of which was released in May 1983.

The essence of Reagan’s speech was that it was necessary to abandon mutually assured destruction and move to a new format for ensuring national and world security - placing defense systems in space.

Reagan's speech was a surprise to everyone– for the Americans, for the American allies, for Moscow, and in general for the whole world. Moreover, it came as a surprise even to Reagan's own cabinet, including Secretary of State Shultz and the leadership of the Department of Defense. This entire topic of space defense was not previously considered by the American government and its departments. It was not the military and diplomats who imposed this topic on Reagan, but on the contrary, he imposed it on them.

According to his closest collaborators, Reagan saw a threat for many years, even before becoming president. national security The United States was aware of the presence of nuclear weapons and was looking for options for reducing dependence on them and even their complete elimination. In particular, he was greatly impressed by his visit in 1979, as part of the election campaign, to the North American Aerospace Defense Command Center NORAD in Colorado Springs. During the orientation tour, Reagan asked what would happen to Cheyenne Mountain, where the Center was located, if it was hit by a heavy Soviet missile, to which the general accompanying him replied: “It will blow it to hell.” Reagan was then struck by the discrepancy between the scale and level of sophistication of military technology and the level of the country's protection from nuclear destruction - it was not protected, everything rested on the supposed consent of both parties - the USA and the USSR - that they would both refrain from nuclear strike, fearing retaliatory destruction. But it was just a concept, nothing more - not formally approved by anyone and never discussed at any negotiations.

Having already become president, Reagan since January 1982 began with his questions and his interest to stimulate discussion of previously disparate military-technical ideas and options. He began discussing ideas of defeat with military and scientific-technical specialists ballistic missiles after they are launched from starting positions on almost any part of their flight trajectory. Reagan asked the question: if it is possible to detect the launch of a rocket from a satellite, is it really impossible to destroy it within a short time of the launch field? The answer was to place anti-missile systems in space and supplement them with ground and air systems. Many of these systems were based on the use of fundamentally new technical solutions, such as electromagnetic and laser guns. It was also planned to place many new satellites, optical reflectors, and interceptors in space.

Autumn 1982 the leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (analogous to the Soviet General Staff) presented the president with a review report on space defense, which brought together previously expressed ideas and proposals. But the Committee could not have imagined that the president would soon publicly declare space defense a military-political priority of his administration.

The emergence of such weapons systems broke the logic of the concept of mutually assured destruction on which the post-war world was based. Reagan himself viewed SDI as a defensive program in nature and, moreover, was ready to later involve the Soviet Union in participation in it, thereby forcing it to eliminate its nuclear potential.

However, theoretically, it was possible to strike at the enemy and then repel his retaliatory strike, which violated the existing security system in the world. By the way, this is precisely why, having begun negotiations on limiting strategic weapons The United States and the USSR (SALT) simultaneously limited missile defense systems - ABM - that could repel or mitigate a nuclear retaliatory strike.

To work on the program, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization was created within the US Department of Defense.

Despite all the authority of Reagan, his the SDI program met with strong resistance from the very beginning in Washington itself, which, in the end, buried this program. Democratic progressives (in particular, Senators T. Kennedy and J. Kerry, who became Secretary of State under Obama) pointed out the danger of undermining the concept of mutual assured destruction, which, according to them, only increased the threat of a nuclear conflict. The US State Department and Department of Defense believed that this program was technically unrealizable, and in addition violated the ABM Treaty with the USSR and the Outer Space Treaty. US allies feared that if implemented, SDI would “disconnect” the joint defense system of the United States and Western Europe.

The Soviet Union immediately accused Washington in attempts to create for oneself unilaterally strategic advantage and achieve military superiority over the USSR. Initially, Moscow's reaction was mainly of a propaganda nature - everything that came from Washington was condemned. Moscow believed that the SDI program was designed to intimidate the Soviet Union and put pressure on it in disarmament negotiations, which by that time had reached a dead end. It is also important that Reagan made the announcement of the start of the SDI program just 2 weeks after he called the USSR in a conversation with American evangelical preachers "evil empire".

However, after some time, as the Americans began to methodically work on SDI, Soviet assessments of the prospects for this program became increasingly alarmist - the USSR understood that America has the scientific, technical, production and financial potential to implement everything that what was stated. Likewise, the USSR understood that they would not be able to oppose the United States with anything similar, although they themselves carried out certain developments on placing weapons in space. In Moscow, SDI generally began to be presented in an even more fantastic form than its authors themselves - they say, the Americans are planning to deploy battle stations in space similar to those depicted in “Star Wars” for attacks on the USSR.

The total costs of SDI deployment were estimated at approximately $150 billion ($400 billion in 2017 prices).

With Reagan's resignation from the presidency in early 1989, the SDI program gradually faded away., and in May 1993 B. Clinton actually closed it, although some promising scientific and technical work continued. The United States spent about $40 billion on it from 1984 to 1993 ($100 billion in 2017).

It is quite difficult to present the SDI program as an integral system in military-technical terms

• rather, it is a sketch of possible solutions. There were various variants of SOI depending on the degree of development of its various component systems.

The influence of this program on Soviet-American relations should neither be underestimated nor, at the same time, overestimated. SDI convinced the Soviet military-political leadership of the futility of the arms race - the USSR (even before Gorbachev) returned to the table of disarmament negotiations interrupted by Andropov, and began to discuss the option of a real reduction, and not limitation, as before, of nuclear weapons. Having come to power in March 1985, Gorbachev made no secret of the fact that he did not believe in the feasibility of SDI, and called on the Soviet military not to frighten themselves with this program. He considered it necessary to normalize Soviet-American relations and reduce armaments even without SDI However, in subsequent negotiations he linked the reductions to the US abandonment of SDI.

The famous SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) program, as we know, was focused on the deployment of numerous anti-missile systems, very expensive and difficult to produce.

It is now known that “the game was worth the candle” and the money spent fully paid for itself - the Soviet Union could not withstand the next “arms race,” but the United States also spent a lot of money. So how much did the SDI program cost?

Americans have never been stupid people and any “cut” of the budget was carefully planned without total consequences for the state.

After R. Reagan announced the deployment of SDI, only a few months passed and at the beginning of 1984 the Army Strategic Defense Command (USASDC - U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command) was organized, whose specialists drew up a detailed plan for the phased deployment of systems, both ground and and space-based.

In particular, the program approved in 1987 included the following systems:

Boost Surveillance and Tracking System (BSTS) - improved surveillance and tracking systems,
Space-Based Interceptors (SBI) - space interceptors,
Space-Based Surveillance and Tracking System (SSTS) – space surveillance and tracking systems,
Ground-based Surveillance and Tracking System (GSTS) – ground-based surveillance and tracking systems,
Exoatmospheric Reentry Vehicle Interceptor System (ERIS) - extra-atmospheric interception systems,
Battle Management/Command, Control, and Communication (BM/C3) – combat command and communications.

The first phase (Phase I) of SOI involved the deployment of BSTS and some SBI components, which was a completely non-trivial task, given the huge coverage area. And the money flowed like a river...

In 1989, when the collapse of the USSR became inevitable, America was still discussing possible ways to “optimize” the missile defense program. Bush Sr., who replaced Reagan as president, continued the work of his predecessor and instructed the Department of Defense to develop a four-year plan for the further development of SDI.

At that time, the emphasis shifted to the space anti-missile program codenamed “Brilliant Pebbles” (until 1988 it was designated as “Smart Rocks”), according to which it was planned to deploy 4000 (!) satellites and orbital stations in orbit.

The cost of the first thousand satellites was estimated at $11 billion, which was a fairly optimistic estimate. However, “Brilliant Pebbles” turned out to be cheaper than the previous project, which cost $69.1 billion. Now they intended to spend 55.3 billion, which, however, was also a lot.

At this time, the United States entered into real euphoria, anticipating the imminent fall of the “Evil Empire.” The Americans did not intend to stop there; on the contrary, the priority of “Brilliant Pebbles” was so high that in 1990, Secretary of Security Dick Cheney declared it “program number one.”

Thus, despite the obvious victory, the budget continued to be absorbed at the same pace, and significant progress was still not expected. The main “developers” were the companies TRW-Hughes and Martin Marietta, who were entrusted with the implementation of the government order, but beyond prototypes and mock-ups, after three years of “hard” work they failed to do anything.

They never managed to fully “use” the allocated funds - in December 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist and the need for a powerful missile defense system disappeared. New administration President Clinton immediately cut budget allocations, and in 1993 it was announced that all work on SDI would be curtailed.

In total, $20.9 billion was spent on the SDI program between fiscal years 1985 and 1991, of which:

6.3 billion – sensory systems,
4.9 billion - directed energy weapons (DEW),
4.8 billion – kinetic-energy weapons,
2.7 billion – systems combat control and communications,
2.2 billion – other scientific research.

In addition, the Department of Energy received another $1.6 billion to conduct its own research work.

By today's standards, this seems like little, but we should not forget that the Cold War world of the last decade did not know economic crises, and the expansion of the United States was so great that there was no doubt about its future role as the “world policeman.” All this was not felt then, but it is felt now - as of the end of 2011, the US national debt exceeded $15 trillion. And the SDI program made a significant contribution to this.

So what is left for us from the entire Star Wars program? Perhaps the only SDI “splinter” worthy of mention was the Deep Space Program Science Experiment, conducted in 1994. The purpose of the experiment was to test the operation of new sensors and some components of a new type of spacecraft. A single probe, called Clementine, flew to the Moon and back from January 25 to May 7, until it was lost as a result of on-board equipment malfunction. This program cost another 80 million, which, compared to SDI, can be considered a drop in the ocean.

Space activity as one of the directions of scientific and technological progress is objectively becoming the most important means solving common problems of humanity - energy, food, environmental and others. Due to its international nature and global scale possible consequences, it directly affects the interests of almost all states globe. This requires organizing their close cooperation in matters of peaceful use and preventing militarization outer space, which is " common heritage humanity."

To date, thanks to the persistent efforts of the Soviet Union, some international legal restrictions have been introduced on the military activities of countries in space, but the constant obstructionist policy of the United States prevents the conclusion of comprehensive agreements in this area. Since the late 50s, the United States has been striving to put the unique capabilities of space technology at the service of its military department. As a result of these efforts, they have up to 100 operating satellites of various space systems in orbit and annually launch 15-20 new military satellites. These systems, used to solve problems of communications and command and control, navigation, cartography, weather support and reconnaissance, are not considered literally space weapons and do not pose a threat of direct attack.

However, the situation in this area may change significantly due to the United States' intention to begin the creation and deployment of strike weapons intended to destroy objects in space or on earth from space. The Pentagon's practical efforts to militarize outer space especially intensified after the announcement of the Presidential Directive on National Space Policy (1982). The main goals of this policy are to ensure “national security” and protect the “vital interests” of the United States in space. To achieve its goals, the American leadership, in accordance with the directive, solely reserves the right to take military actions in space. Further steps by US militaristic circles demonstrated their desire not only to achieve superiority over the Soviet Union in space, but also to break the existing strategic parity by deploying space strike weapons and open another channel for the arms race. A striking example This is achieved by the so-called “Strategic Defense Initiative” (SDI), which even in the Western press received a more accurate name - “Star Wars”.

It was officially announced in March 1983 as a long-term program to create a multi-echelon missile defense system with space-based elements directed against the Soviet Union. According to the US administration, this program allegedly pursues the goals of completely eliminating the threat from ballistic missiles, strengthening stability and international security, but in fact is aimed at depriving the USSR of the opportunity to retaliate. At the same time, the facts are carefully concealed that US militarists are conducting research in this area against the backdrop of the further buildup of American strategic offensive weapons and intend to use their results to create strike space weapons that would be capable of almost suddenly appearing over the territory of any state and creating a real threat to space , air and ground objects. In fact, as M. S. Gorbachev clearly described this program in a conversation with the editor of the Pravda newspaper, “they talk about defense - they are preparing for an attack, they advertise a cosmic shield, and they forge a cosmic sword, they promise to eliminate nuclear weapons - in practice they are building up and improving them . They promise stability to the world, but lead to a breakdown of the military balance.” The USSR proposed a complete ban on space strike weapons. Whatever they are called - “strategic defense initiative”, space “shield”, etc., they pose a danger to nations. Therefore, the core issue of our time is the prevention of the arms race in space and its curtailment on Earth. The main obstacle to its solution remains - the American Star Wars program.

Rice. 1. The concept of an American multi-echelon missile defense system with space-based elements: 1 - the active section of the ICBM flight path; 2 - combat space station; 3 - early warning satellite; 4 - a missile with an X-ray laser launched from a submarine; 5 - separation of the warhead of an ICBM (breeding warheads and separating decoys); 6 - powerful ground laser installation; 7 - re-reflecting orbital mirror; 8 - middle section of the warheads flight path; 9 - tracking, recognition and targeting satellite; 10 - space platform with accelerator weapons; 11 - final section of the warheads flight path; 12 - aircraft interception missile system; 13 - long- and short-range anti-missiles

The new "initiative" in the United States meant a complete reorientation of efforts aimed at militarizing space. Since 1983, all R&D plans in the field of missile defense have been urgently revised, a program of further research has been developed, specific directions and amounts of funding have been determined, and a preliminary assessment of the possibilities for the practical implementation of the concept of a multi-echelon system with space-based elements has been carried out. At this stage, the plans include the study of all technical means that could potentially find application in a promising missile defense system, including means of intercepting operational-tactical and tactical missiles. As a result, SDI has become the largest research and development program of the US Department of Defense, with short time(fiscal years 1984-1986) over $5 billion was allocated.

According to press reports, the structure and possible combat composition of the missile defense system created within the framework of “Star Wars” have not yet been finally determined. However, it is assumed that it will include at least three echelons designed to destroy ballistic missiles in all main characteristic sections of their flight trajectory (Fig. 1).

The main role in such a system is given to the first echelon, whose weapons must engage ICBMs immediately after launch during the first 3-5 minutes of flight, that is, before the warheads are deployed. American experts believe that in this part of the flight trajectory, missiles are large and quite vulnerable targets that are easier to detect and destroy. Moreover, as a result of their defeat, all warheads installed on ICBMs with multiple warheads will be immediately disabled, and thus maximum combat effectiveness will be achieved. The second echelon is designed to destroy missile warheads throughout their flight outside the dense layers of the atmosphere. Third-echelon weapons must intercept surviving warheads after they enter the dense layers of the atmosphere, where their recognition is easier due to the natural braking and lag of lighter decoys.

According to the authors, the main components of a multi-echelon missile defense system will be means of detecting, tracking and recognizing ballistic targets, directed energy weapons and kinetic (conventional) weapons, combat control and communications equipment.

To detect, track and recognize targets within the framework of the SDI program, radar and optical (infrared) means are being developed, intended mainly for installation on space platforms and aircraft, as well as special launch vehicles launched towards approaching warheads upon a signal from early warning systems.

Rice. 2. Sketch of a combat space station

In the field of directed energy weapons, research includes high-power lasers (including nuclear-pumped X-rays), particle accelerators, and electromagnetic (microwave) radiation generators. Combat space stations (Fig. 2) with laser and accelerator weapons, with the exception of X-ray lasers, are intended for permanent placement in orbits. X-ray lasers, in which the energy source is nuclear explosion, it is supposed to be launched in the direction of targets by special launch vehicles from submarines upon a signal from early warning systems. In the case of placing high-power lasers on the ground, their beams are aimed at ICBM warheads using large mirrors installed on space platforms.

Ground-based long- and short-range anti-missile missiles are being developed as kinetic weapons, as well as electromagnetic guns (Fig. 3) and space-based missiles.

For centralized control of these components, ultra-high-speed computing tools are being created, and research is being conducted in the field artificial intelligence, new machine languages ​​and algorithms are being developed. At the same time, in order to assess the practical possibilities of creating a combat missile defense system, the general requirements for energy sources, the survivability of individual components, and methods for organizing the operation of space assets in orbit are determined.

Rice. 3. Sketch of a space electromagnetic gun

Currently, work on the SOI program is aimed at solving fundamental problems, research into possible options for building a combat missile defense system and experimental testing of individual technical solutions.

As reported in the foreign press, according to plans to create a new strike weapon, testing of X-ray lasers continues at a test site in Nevada. In 1984-1985 at the American missile defense test site Kwajelein ( Pacific Ocean) the warhead (target) of the Minuteman ICBM was intercepted at high altitude using a homing experimental long-range anti-missile missile (Fig. 4), and several launches of short-range anti-missile missiles were carried out at the White Sands test site (New Mexico). At the same test site The Americans conducted an experiment to destroy the hull of a Titan ICBM, installed motionless on the ground at a distance of about 1 km, with the beam of a laser test installation. In the area of ​​the Hawaiian Islands, to test methods for tracking fast-moving objects with a laser beam, in the summer of 1985, a series of experiments were carried out using low-power ground-based laser installation. The laser beam of this installation was directed at small mirror reflectors placed on the Discovery orbital stage (the 18th flight of the manned space shuttle) and special rockets launched on greater height specifically for these purposes. In the laboratories of the University of Texas, an experimental electromagnetic gun is being tested and at the same time a more advanced model is being developed with a barrel (guides) about 40 m long.

Particular attention in the SDI program is paid to projects to create directed energy weapons. This weapon is considered by American experts not only as the main component of a promising missile defense system, but also as a potential means of destroying space targets, strategic bombers and cruise missiles in flight. The achieved level of laser radiation power allowed the US Department of Defense in the early 80s to conduct testing in flight conditions to destroy moving targets such as radio-controlled aerial targets, air-to-air missiles and anti-tank missiles using ground-based and aircraft-based laser systems. rockets. The immediate goal of the research is to complete the “Space Laser Triad” program, which involves testing a mock-up of a combat laser system, first on ground conditions and then on board the Space Shuttle.

Work on fundamentally new types of weapons is being carried out in such major US research centers as the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. E. Lawrence (number of personnel about 8 thousand people), Los Alamos National Laboratory (7.5 thousand highly qualified specialists) and the Sandia laboratory (6.9 thousand employees). The annual budget of the Livermore Laboratory, for example, is about $800 million, of which half is spent on SDI and other military programs. Within the walls of these organizations, powerful particle accelerators are used to conduct military research, and laser devices are being developed various types, the mechanism of influence of directed energy flows on structural materials and radio-electronic equipment is studied.

Lawyers for the US military-industrial complex strongly emphasize the supposedly purely research nature of the SDI program, however, judging by foreign press reports, along with R&D, it also provides for the production and deployment of a combat missile defense system. The entire program is expected to be implemented in four stages. At the first stage (until the 90s) it is planned to carry out all the basic research, at the second - to test prototypes, prototypes and individual components, on the third and fourth - to begin and complete the construction of a multi-echelon missile defense system with space-based elements. Already for the first stage of such “research” it is planned to allocate more than 30 billion dollars, and over ten years, according to American experts, up to 70 billion dollars can be spent. The total costs of the program over 20-25 years, including the deployment of a multi-echelon system in its entirety, are believed to be able to reach a fantastic amount - 1-1.5 trillion. dollars.

In this regard, in order to reassure the American taxpayer, US official circles declare that the deployment of a combat missile defense system will begin only if it is proven high efficiency and survivability, and the expected costs will be less than the costs of the Soviet Union to create reliable means of overcoming such a system. Pentagon strategists also do not exclude the possibility of deploying some kind of “intermediate” system using such traditional means as interceptor missiles and ground-based radars, supplemented by aircraft detection and target designation systems. It is believed that the main task of such a limited missile defense system will be to cover the most important objects of strategic offensive forces on the territory of the country.

The American leadership intends to constantly increase the pace and volume of work on the SDI program until concrete results are achieved. According to repeated statements by Washington officials, the possibility of abandoning this program is excluded both at the research stage and in the case of the deployment of a multi-echelon missile defense system, if its creation turns out to be possible. Figures in the US military-industrial complex associate with the program plans not only to create such a system, but also rapid development other types of offensive weapons and military equipment. According to a number of American experts, the technical means conceived within the framework of SDI may themselves turn out to be effective offensive strike weapons and find application in various fields of military affairs. This clearly shows the imperial focus of the program on achieving overall military and technological superiority over the USSR and other countries of the socialist community.

In accordance with the far-reaching goals of the program, it was given the highest priority among other military development programs, and a special department was created at the Pentagon to coordinate all work. A number of people have been involved in work in this area central departments and major commands, including Joint Space, the military service commands, as well as the Department of Energy, other departments and individual organizations. On the basis of the main aerospace companies and research organizations, consortia have been formed in certain areas of work. For practical testing of individual missile defense components in space conditions, it is planned to widely use manned space shuttles, officially owned by NASA, and in fact already used by the Pentagon without restrictions.

Along with its scientific and technical potential, the United States seeks to involve NATO allies and Japan in the “star wars” program, exerts comprehensive pressure on these countries and seeks political approval for its course at the government level. However, sensible politicians expressed concern that with the deployment of such a system, the role of the United States in NATO would increase even more, and if a similar system appeared in the Soviet Union, in the event of an armed conflict, the American command would try to limit it to the geographical boundaries of European theaters of military operations. In addition, Western countries saw in the US proposals an attempt to unilaterally use their scientific and technical potential for their own purposes, which would result in a “brain drain” and a diversion of their own resources. They were also not satisfied with the US intention to limit the transfer of research results and the latest technology to them.

To overcome the differences that arose, Washington hastened to assure its allies that the security of Western Europe is inseparable from the security of the United States, and in order to increase the interest of Western European countries, it proposed placing orders with them not only for research, but also for the production of individual components of the system. At the same time, the United States agreed to allow them to participate in some secret research and offered its assistance in creating European system to destroy enemy operational-tactical missiles by including relevant developments in the SDI program. As a result of pressure from the United States, the Star Wars program at this stage was supported by Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Portugal. The Canadian government refused to officially participate in the program, but decided not to prevent national industrial companies from participating in it. The Japanese government took a similar position, expressing its “understanding” of American goals. France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Greece and Australia spoke out against the program. The prospects for the creation and practical deployment of a multi-echelon missile defense system with space-based elements are being assessed in the United States in various ways. According to administration officials, “real progress” has been made in implementing the SDI program, making it possible to significantly reduce the overall time frame for its implementation compared to the original ones. It is believed that these deadlines will be determined mainly by the results of research into directed energy weapons, without which the creation of an effective defense system against a massive nuclear missile strike is considered impossible. Some American experts involved in the program express the opinion that the final decision on the creation of combat models of such weapons could be made in five to six years. In general, proponents of the system in the US government and military-industrial complex argue that its deployment will be feasible within the next decade.

At the same time, there is a fairly widespread opinion that such a system will ultimately turn out to be the “Maginot Line of the 21st century.” As the foreign press notes, the most objective study of all aspects of the SDI program was carried out by the American public organization “Union of Concerned Scientists,” which published a special report in March 1984. As a result of a thorough analysis of the available data, the authors of the report, including prominent US physicists, came to the general opinion that the creation of an effective missile defense system in the country at this stage is practically impossible. The main conclusions of the report, as well as the assessments of other American experts cited in the foreign press, boil down to the fact that in the foreseeable future it will not be possible to create laser and accelerator weapons of the required power, to deploy the necessary energy sources, to establish mass production the most important technical means. These scientists believe that the most difficult technical task is organizing combat control of missile defense systems and developing appropriate programs and algorithms. Practical testing and testing of the combat control system in real conditions can never be implemented, with the result that any mistake will cause catastrophic consequences. Due to the need to immediately activate the system immediately after detecting missile launches, control of all means must be fully automated. This will extremely limit the role of a person in decision-making at the most critical stage and will further increase the likelihood of the system getting out of control and spontaneously triggering.

In addition, the development, deployment and subsequent operation of such a system, especially its space elements, involve not only colossal financial costs, but also with the expenditure of enormous human and material resources. According to American experts, the SDI program at the research stage alone can be equated to the eight “Manhattan Projects” for creating an atomic bomb, and its implementation will require the involvement of more than 40 thousand highly qualified scientists and engineers. To ensure the deployment of the necessary system assets in orbit, the United States will have to develop new powerful launch vehicles and carry out hundreds of launches of manned space shuttles per year.

As is known, currently the maximum payload of the Shuttle does not exceed 30 tons, one launch costs 150-250 million dollars, and the United States plans to carry out 20-24 launches annually only in the mid-90s. The disaster that occurred on January 28, 1986 during the launch of the Challenger orbital stage (25th Shuttle flight) significantly complicated these plans and once again showed the danger of transferring weapons into space and the illusory nature of relying on absolutely error-free operation of space technology.

Judging by foreign press reports, the SDI program met widespread resistance from not only the American, but also the world community. In the United States itself, the grim prospect of Star Wars has caused sharp divisions in scientific circles and has become the subject of heated debates regarding problems of ensuring international security. Thus, an appeal to the administration with a demand to cancel the SDI program was signed by 54 Nobel laureates and more than 700 members of the US National Academy of Sciences, and over 1,000 scientists from 39 American universities refused to participate in the deployment of a new round of the arms race. The progressive public is primarily concerned about the possible negative consequences of the deployment of combat missile defense systems. Such consequences include the squandering of enormous resources, a feverish increase in the arms race, increased tension and a significant decline in international security.

According to American military experts, since the creation of a missile defense system in itself does not solve the problem of completely protecting the United States from all means of aerospace attack, it will inevitably entail the implementation of other expensive projects. In particular, already at the present time, in connection with the implementation of the SDI program, the Pentagon is hatching plans to completely modernize the air defense system of the North American continent, the costs of which, according to experts, could amount to another 50 billion dollars. These plans, which provide for the widespread involvement of Canada as a partner in the joint organization of aerospace defense of the North American continent (NORAD), were discussed at a meeting between the US President and Canadian Prime Minister M. Mulroney, held in March 1985.

Continuation of work on the SDI program will, it is believed, lead to a complete loss of prospects for achieving mutual trust, a disruption of the existing strategic balance, and a abandonment of restraint in the development of strategic offensive weapons. The main task of both sides will be to build up these weapons to a level that would ensure reliable penetration of defensive systems. It is also believed that even the beginning of the deployment of such a system could provoke a conflict, since neither side would want to passively observe the deployment of strike weapons with great destructive power over its territory. The first most likely victim of Washington's space ambitions is expected to be the arms limitation process, including one of the most important elements of this process - the Soviet-American Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Systems of May 26, 1972.

As is known, this Treaty contains provisions prohibiting both parties from creating the basis for territorial missile defense systems, the deployment of missile defense components outside the permitted limited geographical areas, the transfer of technology and the deployment of such systems on the territories of other countries. The creation, testing and deployment of sea, air, space or mobile-ground based systems is also prohibited, and restrictions are imposed on the development of anti-missile weapons based on new physical principles.

In general, the spirit and letter of the Treaty indicate that it was drawn up with the expectation that the parties would refuse to deploy any large-scale missile defense systems as one of the significant factors in curbing the strategic offensive arms race.

The research and ultimate goals of the SDI program run counter to the specified provisions of the Treaty, as has been repeatedly written about in the foreign press. The incompatibility of “star wars” with treaty obligations is obvious, but the White House is trying to distort the essence of the matter, trying to prove the legality of research and testing carried out in the United States by “playing with wording” or arbitrarily introducing amendments to the meaning of the Treaty.

The Soviet Union firmly adheres to the concluded agreements and consistently advocates preventing the militarization of outer space and against the deployment of new strike weapons in space under the guise of defensive systems. The White House's statements about its desire to strengthen international security by moving to the possession of such weapons cannot mislead anyone. The “Star Wars” program cannot be viewed as anything other than an attempt by the United States to increase its offensive potential, undermine the strategic balance, and create conditions for constant armed blackmail of the Soviet Union and other countries, as well as an unpunished nuclear attack. However, Washington underestimates the capabilities of the Soviet Union, which will not allow an American monopoly in space. At a press conference in Geneva, M. S. Gorbachev clearly stated that the response to the US actions “will be effective, less expensive and can be carried out in a shorter time.”

The arms race and the level of development of military equipment have already generally reached a critical point, beyond which the situation may become uncontrollable. American plans for space saturation impact weapon The Soviet Union is strongly criticized not out of fear, as some in the West imagine. His position on this issue is based on the firm conviction that a complete ban on such weapons will have a profound positive impact on the entire process of limiting nuclear weapons and will be a solid foundation for strategic stability and international security. Realizing its high responsibility for the fate of the world, the Soviet government called on the US administration, instead of creating weapons supposedly intended to counter nuclear weapons, to begin eliminating these weapons themselves.

The main obstacles to the peaceful exploration of space by the efforts of all mankind are plans for waging “star wars” and programs for further buildup of strategic nuclear and conventional weapons in the United States. Under these conditions, the Soviet Armed Forces bear a special responsibility for the defense of the Motherland, the defense of the gains of socialism and the protection of the peaceful labor of our people. As was emphasized at the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, they must be highly vigilant, be on alert constant readiness to suppress the hostile machinations of imperialism against the USSR and its allies, to repel any aggression, no matter where it comes from.

Colonel I. Ignatiev

"Foreign military review» No. 4 1986

The program to create a nuclear shield that could intercept missiles along the entire flight path involved launching weapons into space and therefore received the popular name “Star Wars.” The US President began the presentation of the “Strategic Defense Initiative,” capable of countering Soviet nuclear weapons, with discussions about the future of “our children of the 21st century.”

Addressing the Americans, who at that moment were most worried not about Soviet missiles, but about the money in their own wallets, Reagan said that

defense is not a matter of interest and spending; what is at stake is America's security and the ability to resist the USSR, which over the past 20 years "has created a massive arsenal of new strategic missiles, which could strike the United States."

At the same time, Reagan could not resist pricking his Democratic predecessor, although he did not call the latter by name. With pathos in his voice, the US President said that when he came to power in 1984, he saw “planes that would not fly” and ships without spare parts that could not sail.

Now, Reagan continued, America has the necessary technology, and said that US scientists, together with allies, have begun developing a program that can “achieve the goal of destroying the threat posed by strategic nuclear missiles.”

The purpose of their creation, the US President emphasized, is “to reduce the likelihood of a nuclear war.” Moreover, the new system, although called “defensive,” also contained offensive elements.

“The plans are not impressive”

The president's speech made a great impression on many Americans, although the development of new weapons was discussed only in general outline. Soviet scientist, head of the Institute space research said in an interview with Gazeta.Ru that at that moment no one imagined that Reagan would come up with the idea of ​​SDI.

“We met with a group of scientists in the American. Our conversation was constructive, nothing seemed to indicate that they would have the idea of ​​SDI. We found out about her on the way home. When we boarded the plane, we agreed that the first thing we would do upon arrival was to analyze it and write our conclusions for the government,” recalls Sagdeev.

Many American experts, although they knew in general terms about the program, did not have much faith in it. As he writes in his recent book “My Journey to the Brink of Nuclear War” former minister US Defense William Perry, Reagan was not very impressed with his plans.

Perry understood that it would take more than 20 years to develop Reagan's plans, and during this time the USSR would develop “countermeasures” to counteract it. The system would become costly and ineffective, Perry wrote, and could “lead to a new arms race.”

But if it was the new arms race that frightened a professional like Perry, for Reagan it was the ultimate goal.

His administration was well aware that a system for launching weapons into space was unlikely to be created in the near future, but it could force the USSR to spend more on military purposes.

The Soviet Union at that time was not in the best position: the relative prosperity of the early Brezhnev era was over, the grueling war in Afghanistan was in its third year, and the standard of living of the population was rapidly deteriorating. And while brilliant scientific minds were thinking about new types of weapons to protect the country, in this country people stood in lines for imported boots.

“We were deliberately intimidated”

At the same time, as the former deputy head of the USSR writes in his memoirs, “American intelligence deliberately exaggerated the military potential of the Soviet Union so that the administration could pass new appropriations for “defense” through Congress:

“We were deliberately intimidated by SDI, in this case clearly exaggerating its danger to the USSR. They assured that this was a purely defensive project, although we knew (later the Americans admitted it) that offensive functions were also envisaged ... "

Sagdeev shared the same opinion: “The main thing that frightened us was not American ideas, but the fact that our own military-industrial complex would seize with such zeal the opportunity to create our own domestic version"Star Wars" that we will get bogged down in this swamp."

The leader of the USSR, who had previously worked in the KGB system, Yuri Andropov, was confident that SDI was not a bluff. As Andrei Aleksandrov-Agentov writes in his book about the times “From Kollontai to Gorbachev,” the program was designed to “disarm” the USSR. “And especially emphasize that Reagan is lying when he talks about the Soviet threat,” recalls Soviet international affairs specialist Vitaly Zhurkin in his book.

Realizing that it was necessary to confront the new program not head-on, Soviet specialists began to prepare an “asymmetric response” to SDI.

True, in the USSR there were also voices of scientists who believed that such a complex system will not work - this opinion was shared, for example, by academician. The academic commission, created under Andropov, came to the conclusion that this system would not work effectively.

After Andropov's death, certain steps towards stabilizing the situation were taken by his replacement, Konstantin, whose team proposed negotiations with the Americans on the demilitarization of outer space. The proposal was accepted - the American side understood that due to the still non-existent “star wars” it would be able to achieve greater concessions from the USSR.

In addition, Reagan, whose election race was in full swing, wanted to win over the votes of the Democrats who opposed the arms race. In January 1985, the USSR and the USA, at a meeting of the heads of foreign affairs departments and George Shultz, agreed to hold negotiations on the entire range of nuclear issues. However, Chernenko's death slowed down these plans.

Negotiations had to be continued by Gorbachev’s team, who also tried to convince him of the futility of SDI. Thus, Marshal Sergei Akhromeyev assured the Secretary General that Reagan was “bluffing.” But not only the potential danger of SDI, but also a more real threat American missiles in Europe forced the USSR to negotiate with the United States, which led to the elimination of missiles under the INF Treaty, which today is the cornerstone of international security.

Now, a growing number of researchers believe that the SDI program, which cost billions of dollars, was a hoax, but, as noted in 2009, it helped “win the Cold War.” The parties stopped it, but after one of them disappeared, the other unilaterally declared itself the winner.

Battle for the Stars-2. Space confrontation (part II) Pervushin Anton Ivanovich

SOI program

SOI program

As it quickly became clear, the allocations for SDI provided for in the budget could not ensure a successful solution to the ambitious tasks assigned to the program. It is no coincidence that many experts estimated the real costs of the program over the entire period of its implementation at hundreds of billions of dollars. According to Senator Presler, SDI is a program that requires expenditures ranging from 500 billion to 1 trillion dollars (!) to complete. The American economist Perlo named an even more significant amount - 3 trillion dollars (!!!).

However, already in April 1984, the Organization for the Implementation of the Strategic Defense Initiative (OSIOI) began its activities. It represented the central apparatus of a large research project, in which, in addition to the organization of the Ministry of Defense, organizations of civilian ministries and departments, as well as educational institutions, participated. The central office of the OOSOI employed about 100 people. As a program management body, the OOSOI was responsible for developing the goals of research programs and projects, controlled the preparation and execution of the budget, selected performers of specific work, and maintained day-to-day contacts with the US Presidential Administration, Congress, and other executive and legislative bodies.

At the first stage of work on the program, the main efforts of the OOSOI were focused on coordinating the activities of numerous participants in research projects on issues divided into the following five most important groups: the creation of means of observation, acquisition and tracking of targets; creation of technical means that use the effect of directed energy for their subsequent inclusion in interception systems; creation of technical means that use the effect of kinetic energy for their further inclusion in interception systems; analysis of theoretical concepts on the basis of which specific weapon systems and means of controlling them will be created; ensuring the operation of the system and increasing its efficiency (increasing the lethality, security of system components, energy supply and logistics of the entire system).

What did the SDI program look like as a first approximation?

The performance criteria after two to three years of work under the SOI program were officially formulated as follows.

First, the defense against ballistic missiles must be capable of destroying a sufficient portion of the aggressor's offensive forces to deprive him of confidence in achieving his goals.

Secondly, defensive systems must sufficiently fulfill their task even in the face of a number of serious attacks, that is, they must have sufficient survivability.

Thirdly, defensive systems should undermine the potential enemy’s confidence in the possibility of overcoming them by building up additional offensive weapons.

The SOI program strategy included investment in a technology base that could support the decision to enter the full-scale development phase of the first phase of SOI and prepare the basis for entering the conceptual development phase of the subsequent phase of the system. This distribution into stages, formulated only a few years after the promulgation of the program, was intended to create a basis for building up primary defensive capabilities with the further introduction of promising technologies, such as directed energy weapons, although initially the authors of the project considered it possible to implement the most exotic projects from the very beginning.

Nevertheless, in the second half of the 80s, elements of the first-stage system were considered such as a space system for detecting and tracking ballistic missiles in the active part of their flight trajectory; space system for detecting and tracking warheads, warheads and decoys; ground detection and tracking system; space-based interceptors that ensure the destruction of missiles, warheads and their warheads; extra-atmospheric interception missiles (ERIS); combat control and communications system.

The following were considered as the main elements of the system at subsequent stages: space-based beam weapons based on the use of neutral particles; Upper Atmospheric Interdiction (HEDI) missiles; an on-board optical system that provides detection and tracking of targets in the middle and final sections of their flight trajectories; ground-based radar (“GBR”), considered as an additional means for detecting and tracking targets in the final part of their flight path; a space-based laser system designed to disable ballistic missiles and anti-satellite systems; ground-based gun with projectile acceleration to hypersonic speeds (“HVG”); ground-based laser system for destroying ballistic missiles.

Those who planned the SDI structure envisioned the system as multi-tiered, capable of intercepting missiles during three stages of ballistic missile flight: during the acceleration stage (the active part of the flight path), the middle part of the flight path, which mainly accounts for the flight in space after how the warheads and decoys are separated from the missiles, and in the final stage, when the warheads rush towards their targets on the downward trajectory. The most important of these stages was considered the acceleration stage, during which the warheads of multi-shot ICBMs had not yet separated from the missile, and they could be disabled with a single shot. The head of the SDI Directorate, General Abrahamson, said that this is the main meaning of “Star Wars.”

Due to the fact that the US Congress, based on real assessments of the state of work, systematically cut down (reductions to 40–50% annually) the administration’s requests for project implementation, the authors of the program transferred its individual elements from the first stage to subsequent ones, work on some elements was reduced , and some disappeared completely.

Nevertheless, the most developed among other projects of the SDI program were ground-based and space-based non-nuclear missile defenses, which allows us to consider them as candidates for the first stage of the currently created missile defense system of the country.

Among these projects are the ERIS anti-missile for hitting targets in the extra-atmospheric region, the HEDI anti-missile for short-range interception, as well as a ground-based radar, which should provide surveillance and tracking missions on the final part of the trajectory.

The least advanced projects were directed energy weapons, which combine research into four basic concepts considered promising for multi-echelon defense, including ground- and space-based lasers, space-based accelerator (beam) weapons, and directed energy nuclear weapons.

For works located almost at initial stage, projects related to a complex solution to the problem can be included.

For a number of projects, only problems that remain to be solved have been identified. This includes projects to create nuclear power plants based in space and with a capacity of 100 kW with an extension of power up to several megawatts.

The SOI program also required an inexpensive, universally applicable aircraft capable of launching a payload weighing 4,500 kilograms and a crew of two into polar orbit. OOSOI required firms to analyze three concepts: a vehicle with vertical launch and landing, a vehicle with vertical launch and horizontal landing, and a vehicle with horizontal launch and landing.

As announced on August 16, 1991, the winner of the competition was the Delta Clipper project with vertical launch and landing, proposed by McDonnell-Douglas. The layout resembled a greatly enlarged Mercury capsule.

All this work could continue indefinitely, and the longer the SDI project was implemented, the more difficult it would be to stop it, not to mention the steadily increasing almost geometric progression allocations for these purposes. On May 13, 1993, US Secretary of Defense Espin officially announced the termination of work on the SDI project. It was one of the most serious decisions of the Democratic administration since it came to power.

Among the most important arguments in favor of this step, the consequences of which were widely discussed by experts and the public around the world, President Bill Clinton and his entourage unanimously named the collapse of the Soviet Union and, as a consequence, the irretrievable loss of the United States as its only worthy rival in the confrontation between the superpowers.

Apparently, this is what makes some modern authors argue that the SDI program was originally conceived as a bluff aimed at intimidating the enemy leadership. They say that Mikhail Gorbachev and his entourage took the bluff at face value, got scared, and lost out of fear Cold War, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

It is not true. Not everyone in the Soviet Union, including the country's top leadership, took on faith the information disseminated by Washington regarding SDI. As a result of research conducted by a group of Soviet scientists under the leadership of Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Velikhov, Academician Sagdeev and Doctor of Historical Sciences Kokoshin, it was concluded that the system advertised by Washington “is clearly not capable, as its supporters claim, of making nuclear weapons.” powerless and outdated,” to provide reliable cover for the territory of the United States, and even more so for its allies in Western Europe or in other areas of the world." Moreover, the Soviet Union had long been developing its own missile defense system, elements of which could be used in the Anti-SOI program.