AT&T Archives: A 20-year History of Antiballistic Missile Systems

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This film examines five different experimental and functional antiballistic missile systems worked on by Western Electric and Bell Labs in conjunction with the U.S. Army: the ABM studies, Nike Zeus, Nike-X, Sentinel, and Safeguard. It also shows the Spartan and Sprint systems, the Ballistic Missile Defense Operations Center, the BDMC at Cheyenne Mountain, PAR antennas and console operations, and the BDMC's link with NORAD. There are lots of images of real - and animated - missile launches.

In 1976, after this film was made, the Sentinel/Safeguard systems were scrapped due to low usefulness and high costs. In 1980, President Reagan pushed the SDI, or "Star Wars" system. SDI became the Missile Defense Agency in 2002, and the agency still has not abandoned Reagan's dream of a powerful defensive net.

Made by Western Electric and Bell Laboratories for the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Defense Systems Command
Producer: Film Enterprises, Inc., New York, NY

Footage courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ