1980's Arms Race
•The USSR had a 3:2 advantage in sheer numbers
•New issue is how to deliver them
•Cruise missiles are placed in Europe by NATO
•‘Smart Weapons’ - planes, weapons and even tanks begin to be controlled by computer and are ‘guided’
•New issue is how to deliver them
•Cruise missiles are placed in Europe by NATO
•‘Smart Weapons’ - planes, weapons and even tanks begin to be controlled by computer and are ‘guided’
Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI)
“Star Wars”
•The Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) - Also known as “Star Wars”; wanted to have a defensive umbrella over the U.S. to shoot down incoming missiles from space
•Soviets could not afford to keep up with this kind of science
•The arms race would not fizzle out until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985
•Soviets could not afford to keep up with this kind of science
•The arms race would not fizzle out until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985
Summary: Ronald Reagan increased the United States money into developing new technologies that the Soviets couldn't keep up. they made elaborate plans that we still don't have today that the USSR believed was actually happening.