Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration will move forward with developing a multibillion-dollar missile defence system, called “Golden Dome” that he envisions will protect the United States from possible foreign strikes using ground and space-based weapons.
Flanked by US secretary for defence Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office, Mr Trump also said that he wanted the project to be operational before he left office. He added that Republicans had agreed to allocate $25 billion (€22.1 billion) in initial funding and Canada had expressed an interest in taking part.
“Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space,” Mr Trump said. “Forever ending the missile threat to the American homeland.”
What exactly Golden Dome will look like remains unclear. Mr Trump has not yet decided which of the three options proposed by the department of defence that he wants to pursue. Pentagon officials recently drafted three proposals – small to medium to large – for Mr Trump to consider.
The proposals all broadly combine ground-based missile interceptors currently used by the US military with more ambitious and high-tech systems to build a space-based defence programme.
But the option that Mr Trump chooses will determine its timeline and cost. The $25 billion coming from Republicans’ budget bill is only set to cover initial development costs. The final price tag could exceed $540 billion over the next two decades, according to the congressional budget office.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday evening that he had settled on architecture for the project and suggested the total cost of putting it into service would reach $175 billion. He provided no further details.
US space force general Michael Guetlein will oversee implementation of the project, Mr Trump said.
The selection of Mr Guetlein, the vice-chief of space operations at the space force, to oversee the project means the elevation of a four-star general widely seen at the Pentagon to be competent and deeply experienced in missile defence systems and procurement.
The project is expected to end up largely as a partnership with major defence contractors, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, given it has the capacity to manufacture rockets to launch military payloads into orbit and satellites that can deliver next generation surveillance and targeting tools.
It will also rely on companies that manufacture ordnance currently used by the US military. The project’s baseline capabilities are set to depend on existing systems including the Thaad and Aegis Ashore systems made by Lockheed Martin and Patriot surface-to-air missiles made by Raytheon.
“Golden Dome” came into existence as Mr Trump believes that the US should have a missile defence programme to track and kill missiles headed towards domestic US targets, possibly sent by China, Russia, North Korea or other strategic foreign adversaries, similar to Israel’s “Iron Dome” programme.
Shortly after he took office again in January, Mr Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to develop proposals for a “next-generation missile defence shield” to upgrade the US’s missile defence capabilities, which he noted had not materially changed in 40 years.
The order came as the department of defence has become more concerned about the threat of long-range strikes from strategic adversaries. Last week, the Defense Intelligence Agency released an assessment that said China has about 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles, Russia has 350, and North Korea has a handful.
Initially, the White House had named the options for a space-based missile defence system “Moonshot Plus” and “Moonshot Plus Plus”. They were later renamed by Mr Hegseth to be called silver, gold and platinum-dome options based on the three tiers, two former Pentagon officials said. – Guardian
