Golden Dome: The Space Force is playing a central role in the development of an all-new missile shield in the U.S.
The United States is planning to develop a new air defence system along the lines of Israel's Iron Dome. President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Defense to develop a system to be more accurate and counter missile threats of all kinds, including hypersonic missiles. The White House chief calls this domestic dome "golden" and it's meant to go hand in hand with a new "golden age" of not just American security. The US Space Force, which Trump founded during the last presidency, is in charge of the ambitious project.
It is supposed to be a renaissance of American air defence. In one of his last executive orders after taking office, the old US president decided on a move to fundamentally boost the military's capabilities in the event of an external attack. Following the example of Israel, which the US helped build an Iron Dome system that has been in operation since 2011 at a cost of more than $2.5 billion, the US Golden Dome is to be built. It is to function similarly, except that it is to counter more advanced weapons.
"The executive order directs the implementation of a next-generation missile defense shield for the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation air attacks," the White House release reads. "It is intended to provide for the common defense of the American people, accelerate the development and deployment of hypersonic and ballistic space surveillance sensors, advanced space interceptors, and space combat architecture, and enable the destruction of salvos before they are launched."
Central to this will be the relatively recently created Space Force - a project that Donald Trump himself endorsed in his previous term in 2019 with the aim of expanding US military protection in space as well. "I think we will play a pivotal role. We're supportive of it and we've put in place a technical integrated planning team to start thinking about the project from an overall perspective," the head of Space Operations from the US Space Force, General Chance Saltzman, told reporters, according to Military Times.
The project has been given responsibility for, among other things, the development and deployment of missile warning and tracking satellites. These will also be pivotal in the development of the Golden House, as its founder has rechristened it, not to be confused with its Israeli predecessor and to highlight what he says is the emerging new "golden age" of the United States. "The Department of Defense has renamed the program from Iron Dome for America to Golden Dome for America," a new Pentagon memo reads. In particular, the department is now evaluating which existing structures will be useful and which will need to be improved as the new arrangements are implemented.
For example, the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor programs for intercepting supersonic and ballistic missiles and the Space Defense Systems Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture will be used. The entire project does not yet have a price tag or a list of required steps to develop it, which is now the main focus of the technical group that has been formed. Time is limited, according to unnamed security sources, so more specific ideas are expected to be released in a few weeks.
One of the challenges, according to the Trump administration, is to review and modernise "outdated systems". This is also why there is to be a review of the positions of US missile defence units, not only at home but also abroad. In this regard, the US allies plan to work with international partners. For example, the extended Patriot systems developed in the 1980s, of which, although gradually modernised, hundreds are in operation around the world, including in European allies such as Germany, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands and Romania. "The threat of attack by ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles remains one of the worst facing the United States. Over the past 40 years, this threat of next-generation strategic weapons - including hypersonic weapons - has become more urgent with the development of next-generation delivery systems by our adversaries," reads the rationale for the White House chief's decision. "Despite this growing threat, the United States' missile defense policy has been limited to maintaining a lead against threats from rogue nations and countering their accidental or illegal missile launches," the report added, noting that by beefing up the air defense system, the United States will deter any such attacks by its enemies.
According to The Guardian, the upcoming system focuses mainly on the concept of space-based sensors and interceptors. The market for such equipment is dominated by SpaceX, owned by Trump's close ally Elon Musk, so it may be involved in another important government program. Then in January, the Space Force's Space Defense Systems Development Agency announced it was in the process of buying new satellites to create a network of sensors to track rockets in orbit, which would be part of the Golden Dome.
