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Category Archives: SDI

February 12, 2019—Win One for the Gipper!

by Henry F. Cooper on February 11, 2019 in Brilliant Pebbles, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, Jon Kyl, Ronald Reagan, SDI, Space Based Interceptors, Space Defense

“I believe it can be credibly argued that among President Reagan’s greatest acts of leadership was his commitment on March 23, 1983, to the Strategic Defense Initiative — SDI. . . He put it this way on the tenth anniversary of his SDI announcement: “It is as true today as it was ten years ago that this effort holds the promise of changing the course of human history, by freeing the world from the ominous threat of ballistic missile attack. Given the choice, shouldn’t we seek to save lives rather than avenge them?” ~ Former Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) . . . And it is still true today! Read Full Story

January 22, 2019—Update 1989-90 Brilliant Pebbles Studies!

by Henry F. Cooper on January 21, 2019 in Brilliant Pebbles, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, Missile Defense Review, SDI, Space Based Interceptors, Space Force Initiative

Brilliant Pebbles, the most important Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) concept from President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), entered a fully approved Concept Development and Validation (DemVal) program in 1990, anticipated to cost $20 billion (in today’s dollars) to begin deployment in space within five years and operate for 20 years. Current “powers that be” should make sure new studies take that definitive effort into account support President Trump’s Space Force initiative. Read Full Story

January 8, 2019—Brilliant Pebbles Is Affordable!

by Henry F. Cooper on January 7, 2019 in Brilliant Pebbles, Clementine, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, SDI, Space Based Interceptors, Space Defense

Brilliant Pebbles, the most important Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) concept developed by President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), was canceled by the Clinton Administration for ideological reasons and has been ignored ever since. If resurrected by President Trump’s Space Force and supported by Congress, it could begin deployment in space within five years and operate for 20 years for a total cost of $20 billion or less. Read Full Story

December 11, 2018— Whatever Happened to Bush-41’s SDI Vision of the Future?

by Henry F. Cooper on December 11, 2018 in Boris Yeltsin, Brilliant Pebbles, Bush-41, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, SDI

“George H.W. Bush was America’s closer. Called in to pitch the final innings of the Cold War, Bush 41 presided masterfully over the fall of the Berlin Wall, the unification of Germany, the liberation of 100 million Eastern Europeans and the dissolution of the Soviet Union into 15 independent nations. History’s assignment complete, Bush 41 was retired. And what happened to the world he left behind?” ~Patrick Buchannan, December 6, 2018 Read Full Story

December 4, 2018— President George H.W. Bush’s Unheralded SDI Legacy

by Henry F. Cooper on December 3, 2018 in Brilliant Pebbles, Bush-41, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, SDI

Few if any of those recalling the important contributions of former President George H.W. Bush over the past few days have mentioned his memorable, at least to me, contribution to enabling the ballistic missile defense (BMD) capabilities we have today. Read Full Story

November 20, 2018—Give Thanks for our Heritage!

by Henry F. Cooper on November 19, 2018 in Brilliant Pebbles, Electric Power Grid, EMP, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, SDI, SpaceX, Thanksgiving

Pause to give thanks for all our blessings, and the lessons learned from those who came before us, and recommit to keeping this land free and prosperous for those who follow us. Memories give us a context for seeing and meeting our opportunities to leave this land better than we found it — and with the help of the Sovereign of the Universe, so may it be . . . Read Full Story

October 23, 2018— Déjà Vu: A Tangled Web of Arms Control!

by Henry F. Cooper on October 22, 2018 in Arms Control, Brilliant Pebbles, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, INF, New Start, SDI, Space Based Defense

National Security Advisor John Bolton’s trip to Moscow received much public fanfare following President Trump’s announced plan to withdraw from the INF Treaty that Russia has been violating for years, with little or no U.S. response — hopefully he has reset the entire arms control agenda from recent administrations and we are returning to Ronald Reagan’s Peace Through Strength agenda in dealing not only with Russia but also China and others. Read Full Story

October 16, 2018— Reykjavik Lessons for Today!

by Henry F. Cooper on October 15, 2018 in Brilliant Pebbles, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, Reykjavik, SDI, Space Based Defense

“Gorbachev said he could not do it. If they could agree to ban research in space, he would sign in two minutes. They should add to the text ‘The testing in space of all space components of missile defense is prohibited, except research and testing conducting in laboratories’ . . .” Authoritative Memcon from Reykjavik Summit, October 12, 1986 Read Full Story

August 28, 2018—On Legacies of John McCain

by Henry F. Cooper on August 27, 2018 in Brilliant Pebbles, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, McCain, SDI, Space Defense, Space Force, Trump

“Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principals, to the people on whom you rely and who rely on you.” ~ John S. McCain, III — Sailor, Representative, Senator, American . . . Read Full Story

August 14, 2018—It’s the Law-of-the-Land!

by Henry F. Cooper on August 13, 2018 in Brilliant Pebbles, Henry F. Cooper, High Frontier, SDI, Space Defense, Space Force, Trump

“I’ve made my own preliminary cost estimates… and I can’t figure out a way to make them (space-based interceptors) cost as much as some of the numbers I’ve seen tossed around the media (like) many tens of billions of dollars.” ($67 to $109 billion is commonly cited.) ~ Dr. Michael Griffin, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Read Full Story