SDI and the Alternatives

Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, DC: National Defense University, 1991. First Printing. Trade paperback. good. 23 cm. xi, [3], 259, [3] pages. Wraps. Figures. Notes. Index. Sticker residue on front cover. Dr. Simon P. Worden (Brig. Gen., USAF, ret.) is the center director at NASA Ames Research Center where he leads a staff of nearly 2,500 civil servants and contractors and oversees an annual budget of approx. $800 million providing the critical R&D support that makes NASA's and the nation's aeronautics and space missions possible. In just three years, Worden has completely transformed Ames, reinvigorating the center's workforce and taking a leadership role in important, cost-effective small satellite mission. Worden has also put Ames on the critical path for all major NASA space exploration missions through effective use of the center's unique wind tunnels, arc jets, intelligent systems and supercomputer facilities and capabilities. Worden was named the Federal Laboratory Consortium's Laboratory Director of the Year for 2009. He was involved in SDI while in the Air Force. The controversial national debate over strategic defense has been overshadowed by other national and global issues. Research programs for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) continue, however, and the debate is likely to resume as visible results of that research begin to compete for a share of the nation's budget. This study considers strategic defense in the context of four competing strategic theories: deterrence through mutual assured destruction; deterrence through nuclear warfighting; deterrence relying on non-nuclear defense; and disarmament. Non-nuclear, space-based defense is not only feasible, but in some ways preferable to reliance on weapons of mass destruction. To support his case, he outlines a proposed actual system.