On Tuesday, President Trump revealed the plan that will lead to the construction of a new missile defense shield, capable of intercepting threats from outside. Work on the “Golden Dome” will cost the impressive sum of about $175 billion. The shield is expected to become operational within three years.
The project, to be led by Space Force General Michael Guetlein, is reminiscent in some ways of President Ronald Reagan’s later failed “Star Wars” program, which was criticized for being overly ambitious and diverting funds from other national priorities.
However, the White House said that this time the federal administration’s plan will succeed because of contemporary technological innovations.
“The technology was not there. Now there is,” Pete Hegseth, secretary of Defense, said in this regard.
“This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term,” Trump said in announcing the plan. “So we’ll have it done in about three years. 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.”
In reality, Trump began talking about the need for a missile shield similar to Israel’s Iron Dome as early as a year ago during the election campaign.
At that time, military officials said they had not expressed the need for such a comprehensive shield to defend the U.S., while critics of the MAGA leader pointed out that the U.S. was not threatened by its neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and that it was protected by two oceans.
However, some experts argue that the idea of improving the nation’s ability to repel air threats is long overdue.
The current U.S. system focuses mainly on the ability to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles. But for some experts, the U.S. now needs better protection against other possible threats such as drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons.
For this reason, back in January Trump signed an executive order asking Hegseth to take charge of the implementation of the “Golden Dome.”
Since then, as communicated by the Pentagon, “the Defense Department has gathered the brightest minds and best technical talent available to review a full range of options that considers current U.S. missile defense technology and cutting-edge innovation to rapidly develop and field a dependable umbrella of protection for our homeland”.
