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Space Warfare Article: Section Ballistic warfare

Expand on sources from: Matthew Mowthorpe: The Space-based Laser for Ballistic Missile Defense, pages 140-163, in:The Militarization and Weaponization of Space. Lexington Books, 2004, ISBN 0-7391-0713-5.

When the U.S. gained "interest in utilizing space-based lasers for ballistic missile defense", two facts emerged. One being that the ballistic missiles are fragile and two, chemical lasers project missile killing energy (3,000 kilometers). This meant that lasers could be put into space to intercept a Ballistic missile.  

Bracken, Paul (2012). The Second Nuclear Age. New York, New York: Times Books, Henry Holt and Company, LLC. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-0-8050-9430-5.

Weapons like the space-based laser was rejected, not just by the government, but by Universities, moral thinkers, and religious people because it would have increased the waging of the arms race and questioned the United States' role in the Cold War .

initiated by Ronald Reagan in 1983, using the term "evil empire" to describe the Soviets (hence the popular nickname "Star Wars")

Hoffman, David (2009). The Dead Hand. New York, New York: DoubleDay. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-385-52437-7.

Insert section on space-based lasers

Light amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation pumps energy into molecules, creating an electric state that creates energy (photons). The photons pass by other molecules, spreading energy, making more photons. To make an actual laser, a beam has to pass through mass quantities of laser medium by bouncing back and forth between mirrors placed at opposing ends, then the light beam exits through one of the mirrors which is more transparent than the other. Getting a laser to be functional requires the photons to not only reach their excited state, but is reliant on the time it takes for the protons to get excited, then the time for the energy created to reach electrons. In terms of lasers, the power of the laser far outweighs the chemical efficiency. Of course he trajectory of the laser matters as well as its ability to hit the target it is aimed at, but when lasers are placed in space, diffraction can cause interference.

 Lethality of Space Lasers

Lasers require mirrors in the system to direct their beams to achieve impact, but if not done correctly, major damage can can affect the skin. However, if the laser or lasers does make impact,

"a 10 meter mirror with a HF laser beam would yield a 0.32 micro-radian divergence angle and create a laser spot 1.3 meter in diameter at a range of 4,000 meters. The distribution of the 20MW over the laser spot would create an energy flux of 1.5 kilowatts per square centimeter (kW/cm²). The laser spot would need to dwell on the target for 6.6 seconds to create the nominal lethal fluence of 10 kilojoules per square centimeter (kJ/cm²)"

meaning that the laser would essentially blow holes into missiles they are aimed at, as long as the laser mirrors are aimed correctly and the heated molecules exit the beam quickly. Other factors of impact would be the type of laser itself, the amount of exposure, what the laser is attempting to hit (the target), environmental factors, and the ability of the target to either absorb or reflect the laser beam itself . So what happens when a target is hit? Since this is a topic of space-based lasers it's safe to assume that the target is in the atmosphere so,

"a beam with an intensity of around 10 million watts per square centimeter would cause the air immediately in front of the target to ionize, which would create a layer of plasma as the beam hits the surface. The plasma would absorb the energy of the laser beam and grow extremely hot (around 6,000 degrees Celsius). The plasma would distribute this energy in two ways, by emitting ultrabiolet radiation and by expanding explosively. These mechanisms could increase the extent of the beam energy attached to the target to approximately 30 percent and reduce the amount of energy the laser would have to produce."

When a laser is placed on the ground there are many more chances for obscurity in terms of a laser beam having to travel through the atmosphere as well as a much farther length of travel for the beam to hit the target. Other issues that can cause the laser beam to not be efficient is a state called Thermal blooming when the laser heats up the air around it which can cause diffusion because of the heat, sparking, and simply decreasing the beam size by increasing the mirror size could fight against thermal blooming. The atmosphere can also cause absorption, scattering, turbulence, and sparking to the beam, even simply bending the beam so the target isn't accurate .

Characteristics of a Space-Based Laser[edit source]

Directed energy weapons are put on top of satellites in the Earth's orbit, but the altitude with which the satellite lies would depend on what the laser is supposed to be targeting and where. The height of the boosters of the satellite(s) determines the optimum height, the capacity of lasers, and the hardness of the missiles, so placement is vital so that the positioning of the satellite allows for targeting the furthest boosting missile, but not far enough out that the beam misses any of its' targets. "When the Soviet Union was considered to be the main threat, polar orbits were chosen since they provided good coverage of the northern latitudes", even though there were no ballistic missiles deployed there. Equipment also lived within the satellites to improve the performance such as: surveillance, acquisition, tracking, damage assessment, and management functions. A ballistic missile booster is required as well to be able to locate the missiles .

p.141-160

Edward Teller 

Perestroika and Glasnost

Adding Header: Role of the West to article

During the 1980s and1990s the West (the United States) President George H. Bush pledged solidarity with Gorbachev, but never brought his administration into supporting Gorbachev's reform. "In fact, “no bailout for Gorbachev” was a consistent policy line of the Bush Administration", further demonstrating the lack of true support from the West. President Bush had a financial aid policy to aid perestroika that was shaped by: a minimalist approach, foreign-policy convictions that set Bush up against other U.S. internal affairs, and a frugal attitude, influencing his unwillingness to aid Gorbachev. Other factors influenced the West's lack of aid as well like "the in-house Gorbi-skeptics' advocacy; the expert community's consensus about the undesirability of rushing U.S. aid to Gorbachev; and strong opposition to the perestroika bailout at societal levels (from staunch foreign-policy conservatives on the right side of the political spectrum to the U.S. Congress to the American public at large.)"

The West seemed to miss an opportunity to help reform the Soviet regime into a more democracy-like society. The soviets who saw that the state of their economy and aided in the expansion of Western capitalism to allow for an inflow of Western investments, but the perestroika managers failed.

Early on, as perestroika was getting under way, I felt like the West might come along and find it a sensible thing to do—easing Russia’s difficult transition from totalitarianism to democracy. What I had in mind in the Preface iv first place, was the participation [of the West] in conversion of defense industries, the modernization of light and food industries, and Russia’s inclusion on an equal-member footing in the frameworks of the international economic relations…[U]nlike some democrats, I did not expect “manna from Heaven,” but counted on the Western statesmen to use their common sense. President Bush had the opportunity to aid the Soviet Union in a chance to improve their government, like Harry S. Truman did for Western Europe. 

President George H. Bush continued to dodge helping the Russians and "The President of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel, laid bare the linkage for the Americans in his address to a joint session of Congress on February 21, 1990:

When the United States needed help against Germany's reunification, Gorbachev proved to be instrumental in bringing solutions to the "German problem" and acknowledged that "Gorbachev was moving the USSR in the right direction..." 

Bush, in his own words, even gave praise to Gorbachev “to salute the man” in acknowledgment of the Soviet leader’s role as “the architect of perestroika…[who had] conducted the affairs of the Soviet Union with great restraint as Poland and Czechoslovakia and GDR … and other countries [had] achieved their independence,” and who “[was] under extraordinary pressure at home, particularly on the economy.” .

START I, a treaty called the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, signed by both Gorbachev and Bush to reduce the amount of arms between both countries.

citing ENDING THE COLD WAR ON THE CHEAP The George H. W. Bush Administration and the Issue of Western Financial Aid to Perestroika, 1989-1991 by Paul Citrinn January 2017 

Ronald Reagan revealing his idea for the Strategic Defense Initiative on March 23, 1983.