Final answer:
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a proposed defense system that aimed to use satellites armed with lasers to shoot down ICBMs from space, influencing U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), often nicknamed "Star Wars," was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental and submarine-launched missiles).
The main element of SDI that could hypothetically shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) from space would be a system of armed satellites equipped with laser technology or other forms of directed energy weapons.
These satellites were envisioned to detect and target ICBMs during their flight, effectively neutralizing them before they could reach their targets. However, the technological feasibility of such a system was widely debated, and critics highlighted the massive costs and the risk of escalating the arms race.
From the Soviet perspective, the development of SDI was seen as a threat that could disrupt the balance of power established by nuclear deterrence.
The potential of SDI to make the United States impervious to Soviet ICBMs would undermine the principle of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), arguably increasing the chance of a preemptive strike by the Soviet Union.
Despite the technological and strategic challenges associated with SDI, it played a role in the negotiations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and had a significant impact on the end of the Cold War.