ABSTRACT
A successful strategic defense would require not only kill mechanics but also a battlemanagement system involving sophisticated command, control and communications. Space-based chemical lasers seem feasible in technological terms but more questionable in practical systems terms. For chemical lasers several technological problems need to be solved. One is getting high enough power while maintaining a low enough beam divergence. Another is the very large weight of chemical reactants required for providing the energy. The chemical rockets would be similar in nature to air-to-air missiles, but steered with reaction jets rather than aerodynamic surfaces. The targets could be designated to the interceptors by laser or radar tracks, provided by a set of tracking and fire-control satellites orbiting at a higher altitude than the satellites from which the interceptors would be fired. In considering the prospects for the various Strategic Defense Initiative technologies, it is important to remember how long it takes to move from technological development through full-scale engineering to deployment.
