The Nation - News from March 1, 1988

A recent “Star Wars” space experiment has increased the confidence of Pentagon scientists that they can defeat attempts to fool a missile defense by using decoy warheads, the head of the program said. Lt. Gen. James A. Abrahamson, the Air Force general in charge of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, said the so-called Delta 181 space experiment conducted three weeks ago had provided data that is expanding scientific understanding of how objects look as they travel through space. That will be crucial to devising sensors that can tell the difference between a real nuclear warhead and a fake one, Abrahamson said at a Pentagon briefing. He said that budget cuts by Congress this year have slowed the “Star Wars” program by at least a year and possibly more.