After President Ronald Reagan first came up with the idea, 40 years later, defense industry leaders say the technology has finally made its way ahead enough to build an invisible protective dome of space-based radars, missile interceptors and laser weapons.
President Donald Trump, who has become obsessed with the iron dome missile defense system through Israel, first ordered the Defense Agency to begin planning a US version of the Golden Dome in January.
However, since Israel is almost New Jersey’s size, we see that much more difficult protections for much larger US land masses, but the threat to Israel usually comes from neighbors using short-range weapons. The American enemies – North Korea, Iran, Russia, China – are half the place in the world, armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS) and hyposonics.
So the questions remain. Does Golden Dome cover the entire country, including US military bases in places like Hawaii, Alaska and Guam? Can it be protected from short-range missiles, long-range missiles, unmanned and manned aerial vehicles?
Trump’s “Golden Dome” will require a whole-world effort on the scale of Manhattan project, Space Force’s general warning
The Digitalized Concept Design of Golden Dome (Lockheed Martin)
The response may at least in part be at the end of the month, the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget will present a plan to fund the project to the White House. But defense leaders say the technology exists to make the golden dome a reality.
“In our view, it must be a kind of layered system, because filming a UAV is very different from filming a polar tone vehicle or a high-sonic weapon,” Raytheon president Phil Jasper told Fox News Digital. His aerospace company, a leading US defense contractor, manufactures Patriot missile systems, Javelin anti-tank missiles, and a variety of radar and air defense systems.
The US already employs a layered missile defense system known as the Command, Control, Combat Management and Communications (C2BMC) system, which uses radar to detect incoming missiles and launch off-interceptors.
It has technology such as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) batteries to intercept ballistic missiles and Patriots, intercept cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and aircraft. However, the country has only seven globally deployed active THAAD batteries, and is expected to operate one-eight this year.
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Space Force Gen. Michael Gutrain said several weeks ago that building the Golden Dome would require a project-level, government-wide approach in Manhattan from missile defense agencies, the Air Force, the Army, the Navy, Space Force and the Coast Guard.
Defense contractors believed projects like the Golden Dome were on the horizon for years. This says that the reserve could begin in major cities like New York or Washington, D.C., or in sensitive military sites before expanding to protect their entire hometown.
“What I understand [the goal] “We are pleased to announce that we are committed to providing a range of services and services to our customers,” said Edward Zoiss, president of Space and Airborne Systems, L3Harris Technologies.
Jasper predicted that in 2026 some of these defensive measures could be installed quickly.
“What the administration laid out is a building block approach that allows us to protect certain areas in certain areas and build them as we continue to produce these systems.
US warships detect threats from the digitized concept design of the Golden Dome Project (Lockheed Martin)
BlueHalo CEO Jonathan Moneymaker said the dome “has fewer technical issues and is an organizational structure challenge.
“The maximum potential of all the features that work together on that scale is definitely a few new elements,” Moneymaker said.
John Clark, Lockheed’s vice president of technology and strategic innovation, said the plan requires the Pentagon to “think what it has on the shelf.”
“We have systems that are currently in the Air National Guard and the current local defense infrastructure. They could actually be deployed within the US,” he said.
Clark said deploying defence infrastructure in his home would “reduce current inventory for conflicts in the great world.” However, he suggested that anything drawn from today’s Army base could be backfilled for global use at a later date.
Zoiss, whose company at L3Harris Technologies has already built a missile defense satellite that can be used for space-based radar systems in the Golden Dome, said the biggest challenge is missiles that do not follow predictable paths.
“When you go back to high school physics classes, if you understand the angle and trajectory of a bullet, you know exactly where it will land to follow the parabola,” he said.
The Golden Dome needs space-based radar capabilities, experts say (Lockheed Martin)
“ICBMS has been following a parabolic trajectory for decades. But there is no new class of highly maneuverable cruise weapons and polar weapons now,” he explained. “Their endpoints are uncertain, and our defense system in the US needs to change to become more robust to track that weapon throughout its trajectory.”
According to Zoiss, space-based radar will become a key component of the threat to future homelands.
“Our challenge is truly long-range weapons. All you know are weapons that go through vast distances piloted around current land and sea-based radar systems. Therefore, even if the weapons operate those systems, the current architecture cannot provide fire control instructions. Therefore, they must move into space.”
The Golden Dome is capable of drawing missile defense missions already under work, like the domestic metropolitan integrated air defense system designed to protect Washington, DC, and employs systems like the Norwegian National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAM).
And it was able to turn to other systems already small and working on. The Army is working on air defense systems like Guam’s new iron dome, known as the Indirect Fire Protection Capacity (IFPC) Incremental Two System. They are also developing high-power microwave systems that can knock out an entire drone swarm from the sky.
Laser detects the threat of Golden Dome concept design. (Lockheed Martin)
The Marines plan to put three mobile air defense systems in the field this year, including a modified iron dome launcher.
Other needs could be elevated radar, including filling blind spots in the Arctic region for low-flying missiles embracing the Earth’s curvature to avoid detection.
Guetlein said there was a need to “break the barrier” between Title 10 and Title 50 of the US Act, the federal law that controls national defense and secret operations.
“Undoubtedly, our biggest challenge is to be an organizational action and culture that brings together all of our work,” Guetlein says.
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Much of the funding is expected to be laid out in Trump’s 2026 budget request to Congress, which the White House is working on. Even with initial funding, the project can take years to complete and isn’t cheap.
Defense Director for Acquisition and Maintenance Stephen Moranni said Wednesday that he is working with the private sector to address the “formality” challenges of the project.
“In line with the protection of our hometown and President Trump’s executive order, we are tackling the industrial base and supply chain challenges associated with the rise of the Golden Dome,” he said.
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