Developments in U.S. missile defense efforts since 1983

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 16, 2001

MARCH 23, 1983: President Ronald Reagan announces plans for an extensive program to examine the feasibility of a missile defense program. The concept -- derided as "Star Wars" by opponents in Congress -- revises the nation's 35-year-old nuclear strategy by focusing on missile defense rather than the ability to retaliate against nuclear attack.

JUNE 10, 1984: An Army interceptor destroys a target missile over the Pacific Ocean.

SEPT. 6, 1985: A Titan rocket is destroyed by an infrared advanced chemical laser.

JANUARY 1991: The first operational engagement between ballistic missiles and ballistic missile defenses occurs during the Gulf War.

APRIL 1, 1997: The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization establishes the Joint Program office to design and develop a system by 2003.

APRIL 30, 1998: Boeing gets a $1.6-billion contract to be the lead systems integrator for the program.

JULY 23, 1999: President Clinton signs the National Missile Defense Act. He says threat, cost, technological status and adherence to a renegotiated Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty are the four criteria in making his decision to deploy such a system.

AUG. 17, 1999: The United States and Russia resume strategic arms talks that include modification of the ABM Treaty.

OCT. 2, 1999: The first integrated flight test successfully intercepts its target.

JAN. 18, 2000: The second integrated flight test fails because of moisture inside the "kill vehicle" -- the weapon section of the interceptor -- which prevented it from using heat-seeking devices to detect its target.

JULY 7, 2000: The third integrated flight test fails when the kill vehicle fails to separate from its booster rocket.

SEPT. 1, 2000: Clinton decides not to authorize work to begin on deploying national missile defense, on grounds that the reliability of the technology had not been proven.

DEC. 28, 2000: Boeing is awarded a new, six-year, $6-billion contract for national missile defense.

APRIL 10, 2001: Russia, China and North Korea tell the U.N. Disarmament Commission that a U.S. missile defense system would threaten international security, trigger a new arms race and undermine the ABM Treaty.

MAY 1, 2001: President Bush declares, "We need a new framework that allows us to build missile defenses to counter the different threats of today's world."

JUNE 27, 2001: The proposed 2002 defense budget is submitted to Congress, allotting $7-billion -- later amended to $8.3-billion -- for missile defense, a $3-billion increase over this year.

SATURDAY NIGHT: The fourth integrated flight test, the first since Bush took office, is a success. Each test costs about $100-million.

-- Sources: Center for Defense Information, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and Facts on File.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright