Word: sdi
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...they reap the rewards of Star Wars. The program could be scaled back or scuttled by the next Congress or President. "Companies can get geared up for a letdown," says Paul Nisbet, who follows the defense business for Prudential-Bache Securities. Also worrisome is the mounting opposition to SDI at the universities where much of the basic research will be done. Campus critics, including many scientists, argue that Star Wars is technologically unworkable and wasteful: a pie in the sky and a pork barrel on the ground...
...economic reasons, Star Wars has become vulnerable to efforts to trim the federal deficit. Congress has tentatively cut the President's SDI budget for 1986, from $3.7 billion to $2.75 billion. Nonetheless, the Administration is still shooting for $21 billion in Star Wars funds over the next four years...
...Star Wars sweepstakes is AT&T, which has been eager to help develop a battle-management computer system. Says an official at a competitor company: "AT&T can't buy a contract. They've done everything short of camping out at the door of the SDI office." Admits an AT&T executive: "It's important to us. There's a lot of pressure on us from the chairman to get involved in this, but so far it's been disappointing." Industry analysts speculate that AT&T has done poorly in the bidding because of its efforts to reorganize itself...
...says. "But in this business you have to take chances. The real risk is in not taking any risks at all." Beall believes that even if his Star Wars business goes sour, the research will lead to improvement in other products, like infrared detection devices. In any case, SDI spending currently represents only a tiny part of the company's budget...
...risk can be greater for a small firm. At General Research in Santa Barbara, SDI contracts accounted for more than 8% of revenues in fiscal 1985, and that percentage is likely to grow rapidly. Nonetheless, says Leslie Wells, an assistant to the company's president, "we're not putting all our eggs in the SDI basket. It's not something that's going to cause the company to come to a screeching halt if it's discontinued...