President Trump selects $175 billion Golden Dome as a shield design to safeguard and boost the defence mechanism of the United States.
United States, world’s most impact-creating and powerful economy has gone a step ahead and leaped higher with a new missile system, soon to be adopted and implemented by President Donald Trump.
In a historic move, the Trump led Republican government announced an ambitious plan termed as the ‘Golden Dome’, America’s new missile defence system. This one-of-its-kind shield system will have state of the art technology and precision to intercept incoming missiles, even if launched from space.
Donald Trump has referenced the Golden Dome in a speech earlier this year and has also signed an executive order to that effect. This unique and peculiar design, inspired and derived from Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’, will be different in the exterior appearance and built. President Donald Trump has selected a design for a whopping US $175-billion and named a Space Force general to head the ambitious program, which is aimed at blocking threats from China and Russia.
This elaborate and eye-catching program was first ordered by Trump in January 2025 with the intent to create a network of satellites numbering in hundreds; to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming missiles in the event of a terror strike.
The task to lead this ambitious project has been assigned to the U.S. Space Force General Michael Guetlein, who would spearhead the complete operations as the lead program manager. This landmark announcement is being viewed as the keystone to Trump’s military planning, an integral part of the expansive tasks lined ahead. Golden Dome has been approved with the underlying premise of ‘protecting the homeland’, with Canada’s cabinet also expressing its willingness to be associated with this exquisite missile system.
In a statement, the office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he and his ministers were discussing a new security and economic relationship with their American counterparts. “These discussions naturally include strengthening NORAD and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome,” it added. The defence shield which would cost approximately $175 billion, should be possibly operational by the end of his term in January 2029, but industry experts were less certain of that timeframe and the cost. The Golden Dome program faces both political scrutiny and funding uncertainty, seems a beyond-the-reach project that may lack the exact precision as is being anticipated.
“Ronald Reagan wanted it many years ago, but they didn’t have the technology,” Trump said, referring to the space-based missile defence system, popularly called “Star Wars”, that Reagan proposed.
Silicon Valley and U.S. software expertise can be leveraged to bring the required advances, while also making complete use of the existing missile defence systems. The Congressional Budget Office has however estimated that Golden Dome could cost as much as US $831 billion over two decades, as per a report published by Reuters.
The ‘Golden Dome’ was conceptualized by taking inspiration from Israel’s land-based Iron Dome defence shield that protects it from missiles and rockets. Trump’s Golden Dome is certainly a step ahead, more elaborate and extensive. It will include a massive array of surveillance satellites and a separate fleet of attacking satellites that would shoot down offensive missiles soon after lift-off.
Interestingly though, while the Iron Dome has been designed to intercept slow-moving missiles and rockets that have a short range, the missile threat to America is vastly different. In terms of the landmass size and area to be protected, Israel is relatively 400 times smaller than the United States, and it’s mostly a flat desert that’s easy to defend.
Russia, China and any other country that could possibly launch an attack on the U.S. possess Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, with fast-moving hypersonic speeds and a longer range. The only way to intercept such a missile attack and counter it is through a system devised based on technology placed in space.
Tuesday’s announcement kicks off the Pentagon’s effort to test and ultimately buy the missiles, systems, sensors and satellites that will constitute Golden Dome. In a press conference by POTUS Donald Trump held at Oval Office, The White House, Trump said Alaska would be a major part of the program, while Florida, Georgia and Indiana would also benefit.
Many of the early systems are expected to come from existing production lines. Attendees at the press conference named L3Harris Technologies (LHX.N), Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and RTX Corp (RTX.N) as potential contractors for the massive project. L3 has invested approximately US $150 million in building out its new facility in Indiana, as a part of a Pentagon’s effort to detect and track with space-based sensors for the Golden Dome.
Republican lawmakers have proposed an initial investment of US $25 billion as part of a broader $150-billion defence package, but this funding is in conjunction with a contentious reconciliation bill that faces significant hurdles in the United States Congress.
Helene Elliott is the senior reporter for News Raise. She covers Science news. She also has a keen interest in photojournalism. Helene holds a nomination for the prestigious Red Smith Award. She is married to author Dennis D’Agostino, a former publicist with the New York Mets.
