Donald Trump has unveiled his plans for a $175 billion ‘Golden Dome’ defence system which he says will protect the US from the world’s most powerful weapons – provoking fury from China and Russia amid fears it will trigger a global arms race.
Such a defence programme is ‘long overdue’ and ‘absolutely necessary’ amid growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia, experts have said in response to Tuesday’s announcement.
Moscow and Beijing have both put offensive weapons in space, such as satellites with abilities to disable critical US satellites, which can make America vulnerable to attack.
Beijing has warned that the plan to put US weapons into the earth’s orbit for the first time ‘heightens the risk of space becoming a battlefield, fuels an arms race, and undermines international security.’
Meanwhile Moscow has called for Washington to make contact regarding the programme. Trump said on Tuesday that he had not yet spoken to Vladimir Putin regarding the programme, but would do so ‘at the right time’.
Following talks between the allies earlier this month, Beijing and Moscow released a joint statement condemning Washington’s plans as being ‘deeply destabilising’ and turning space into ‘an arena for armed confrontation.’
The plan is necessary, according to the US Defence Intelligence Agency, because missile threats from America’s adversaries will not only ‘expand in scale and sophistication in the coming decade’ but already exist.
An unclassified DIA report released this month stated that China and Russia ‘are developing an array of novel delivery systems,’ to exploit gaps in US defences, while traditional ballistic missiles are expected to remain the primary threat to American soil.
North Korea has successfully tested such missiles with sufficient range to reach any part of the US, the DIA stated, while Iran will likely be able to launch ICBMs within the next decade.
File image shows a Russian Sarmat missile test launch on April 20, 2022
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office during the unveiling of the Golden Dome plan
Mark Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral who works at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies has said that a Golden Dome is ‘absolutely necessary.’
‘Over the last 20 years our adversaries have seen that we were unwilling to make the investments in missile defence so cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missile and then drones,’ he told FOX News.
He added that the ‘axis of aggressors’ – namely Russia, China, Iran and North Korea – ‘know that this is a vulnerability in the United States and are exploiting it, so this kind of defence system is necessary.’
Trump declared on Tuesday that the establishment of the Golden Dome would provide ‘close to 100 percent protection’ of the US and is ‘very important for the success and even survival of our country.’
He said it would be delivered within two and a half to three years – before the end of his presidential term.
‘I’m pleased to announce that we have officially selected an architecture for this state-of-the-art system that will deploy next-generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors,’ Trump said.
‘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’re launched from space. And we will have the best system ever built.’
Trump issued an executive order on January 27 instructing defence secretary Pete Hegseth to make the plan a reality.
While limited details were made available on how the architecture of the ambitious system will work – with hypersonic interceptors not expected to be delivered until the mid-2030s – Hegseth said they would draw on existing technologies and build it up over the coming years.
He said that some technology such as space-based sensors and air and missile defense already exist, but added that all systems comprising the Golden Dome would ‘need to be seamlessly integrated’ in order for it to work.
‘Golden Dome will be fielded in phases, prioritising defense where the threat is greatest,’ he added.
He promised that the completed system will protect the US from ‘cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they’re conventional or nuclear.’
It comes as the US Air Force on launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic as part of tests at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, early on Wednesday.
‘This ICBM test launch underscores the strength of the nation’s nuclear deterrent and the readiness of the ICBM leg of the triad,’ said Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command.
File image shows an operational test launch of an Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base
On Tuesday, Trump, seated next to a poster showing the US painted gold and with artistic depictions of missile interceptions, also announced that Gen. Michael Guetlein, who currently serves as the vice chief of space operations, will be responsible for overseeing Golden Dome’s progress.
Montgomery said that he could not think of anyone better to head the project, saying Guetlein had experience in missile defence and understood the importance of long-term planning for US defence in this area.
‘This is a long-term issue and the most cost-effective way over time to defend the US against hypersonic missiles and ballistic missiles is going to be a space-based system.’
Trump wrote in his January 27 order: ‘The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.’
Since then, the US defence department has been weighing up competing proposals for bringing the vision to life and is expected to issue an announcement in the coming weeks.
The Golden Dome is envisioned to include ground- and space-based capabilities that are able to detect and stop missiles at all four major stages of a potential attack.
An explosion of a ballistic missile lights up the sky over the city during a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 24, 2025
It would work to detect and destroy them before a launch, intercepting them in their earliest stage of flight, stopping them midcourse in the air, or halting them in the final minutes as they descend toward a target.
For the last several months, Pentagon planners have been developing options – which the US official described as medium, high and ‘extra high’ choices, based on their cost – that include space-based interceptors.
The difference in the three versions is largely based on how many satellites and sensors – and for the first time, space-based interceptors – would be purchased.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated this month that just the space-based components of the Golden Dome could cost as much as $542 billion over the next 20 years.
Trump has requested an initial $25 billion for the program in his proposed tax break bill now moving through Congress.
Trump has not confirmed whether any defence contracts have so far been awarded, with many of the early systems expected to come from existing production lines.
Attendees at the press conference named L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin and RTX Corp as potential contractors for the massive project.
Trump’s Golden Dome appears to draw inspiration from Israel’s ‘Iron Dome,’ which protects the country against attacks by shooting missiles out of the sky.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX was reported to be a frontrunner to win a crucial part of the programme last month.
But Musk denied wanting to be involved, tweeting on April 17: ‘SpaceX has not tried to bid for any contract in this regard. Our strong preference would be to stay focused on taking humanity to Mars. If the President asks us to help in this regard, we will do so, but I hope that other companies (not SpaceX) can do this.’
Few believe he would not participate, at least in the launch of satellites to bolster the existing surveillance constellation.
The companies reportedly met with top officials in the Trump administration and the Pentagon recently to pitch their plan, which supposedly entails building and launching anywhere from 400 to over 1,000 satellites to circle the globe and track enemy missiles, per Reuters.
Separately, 200 additional satellites, armed with US missiles that are not operated by the tech visionaries, would strike projectiles out of the sky.
The White House’s executive order demanded ‘capabilities to defeat salvoes prior to launch,’ meaning that some space-based missiles would be used to destroy projectiles on the launchpad.
Geosynchronous satellites, moving at the same speed as the Earth so effectively hovering in place, could be stationed above known adversaries – North Korea, Iran, Russia, China – to strike before takeoff occurred.
‘Is he going to launch most of the satellites? Yes, but that’s about it,’ Montgomery said of Musk’s alleged subscription model. ‘He is not going to be involved in the operations of the missiles, unless he decides to get heavily involved in this, and he’s pretty late.’
Other space-based missiles could take out the enemy missile seconds after it launched: a comparatively easy time to destroy it, when it is moving at lower speeds and its rocket burn makes it highly visible.
Destroying the missile in its mid-phase is complicated, experts say, with the missile flying at 15,000 mph, it cannot be seen by satellites but only by radars on the ground. Eliminating the missile after it enters its terminal phase, plummeting to Earth at 4.3 miles a second, is more difficult a feat than hitting a bullet with a bullet.
And, beyond the logistical issues, there’s the question of who will operate the system, and how.
Sources told Reuters that Musk was allegedly angling for a subscription model, whereby the US government would pay regular fees to his company for the use of the satellites.
Montgomery, a retired rear admiral who now works at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that a subscription service was a non-starter.
‘If you’re going to compete for this, we’re going to have control of the satellites,’ he said.
‘But really, he doesn’t need to compete in this. There’s lots of other companies out there doing it.
Reuters reported that Musk’s SpaceX was a frontrunner for the Golden Dome deal, despite the mogul’s denial of involvement in the project.
‘Is he going to launch most of the satellites? Yes, but that’s about it. He is not going to be involved in the operations of the missiles, unless he decides to get heavily involved in this, and he’s pretty late.’
Existing defense companies including Northrop Grumman, Boeing, RTX and Lockheed Martin are all said to be putting together proposals for the Pentagon, which has reportedly received interest from more than 180 firms. On April 30, the department of defense will host a gathering of potential contractors at the Von Braun Complex in Huntsville, Alabama.
Montgomery said earlier this month that he believes the technology is in place, meaning the project is finally feasible.
‘Reagan wanted to do it, but it was prohibitively expensive and the technology wasn’t there yet,’ he said.
Trump’s plan resurrects a Reagan-era defense plan, Strategic Defense Initiative, which as mocked as ‘Star Wars’ at the time and later shelved.
In 1983, former President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation from the Oval Office to detail his plan for the SDI, which involved a missile defense program based in space.
Indeed, Trump is not the first president to envisage a giant dome above the country, protecting America from all attacks.
In March 1983, President Ronald Reagan announced in an Oval Office address his plan for a Strategic Defense Initiative, which he said was needed to protect the US from Soviet nuclear missiles.
‘What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant US retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies?’ he asked.
Reagan warned of ‘probably decades of effort on many fronts,’ with ‘failures and setbacks.’
‘But isn’t it worth every investment necessary to free the world from the threat of nuclear war?’ he entreated a weary public and his critics.
Joe Biden, elected to the Senate in 1972, was among the skeptics, arguing Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ program would set off an arms race and that the proposal ‘constitutes one of the most reckless and irresponsible acts in the history of modern statecraft.’
Then again, Biden is infamous for being ‘wrong.’ ‘I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,’ former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said of Biden in his 2014 book.
Nevertheless, Biden’s side won out: Reagan’s program was mothballed in 1993, with the end of the Cold War.
But Trump appears set on making the Gipper’s wish come true and he has set an astonishing timeline to do so: The Pentagon has created several timelines for ‘capabilities to be delivered,’ Reuters reported on April 17, with one demanding implementation by early 2026.
Trump himself indicated his impatience, telling a West Palm Beach rally in June 2024: ‘By next term we will build a great Iron Dome over our country.’
‘Strategically, it’s always been stupid,’ Tierney said of the Golden Dome plan.
The main risk of this plan is that Trump could look for an easy win, rather than working for a lasting answer, said Montgomery, who warned against wasting funds on existing, soon-to-be outdated technology, instead of reaching for an ambitious but lasting solution.
‘He’s going to want something to show that he did something right now. And he’s got to withhold that. He’s got to ignore that desire, and instead, think about the wisdom of a long-term solution.’
Indeed, as Reagan and now Trump have discovered, the plan provokes passionate responses.
‘Strategically, it’s always been stupid,’ said John Tierney, who spent 18 years in Congress before becoming the executive director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
He argued that it disrupted a delicate balance, with no world power currently wanting to risk annihilation by attacking another, and gave a false sense of security.
‘We’ve spent about $410 billion since Ronald Reagan’s days on this thing,’ he said. ‘And we spend now about $30 billion a year on missile-related adventures.’
Tierney said such defense goals were pure fantasy: In 2017, the Missile Defense Agency announced that fewer than 40 percent of interceptions were successful when tested against North Korean-style weapons. The Chinese and Russians have more sophisticated equipment, making the chance of interception even lower.
His organization has calculated that you would need 950 interceptors to shoot down one North Korean missile. The American Physical Society estimated over 1,000 per missile.
‘A more generous reading would be that every politician wants people to think that they’re doing something for them, and that they can protect them,’ Tierney said.
‘One current member of Trump’s cabinet – high ranking, inclined towards the intelligence field – said to me, when that person was still a member of Congress: ‘I understand what you’re saying, John, about the facts. It doesn’t work, but I’ve got to tell my people I’m doing something.’
He added, ‘A more realistic reading – even though it’s totally cynical – is that there’s a lot of money to be made. It used to be the Boeings and the Lockheed Martins. Now it’s the techies. It’s the Elon Musks who would stand to make a ton of money.’
‘He’s going to want something to show that he did something right now,’ Montgomery said of Trump.
Tierney’s team has projected the cost to be over $2.5 trillion. On Thursday, Reuters reported that Republicans in Congress are seeking $27 billion in initial funding for Trump’s Golden Dome.
Tom Karako, director of the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, believes the Golden Dome is essential, and put the price well below Tierney’s estimate.
‘It’s hard to know what it will cost,’ he told the Lawfare podcast. ‘I would not be terribly surprised if we were looking at perhaps a $10 billion-a-year increase. An extra $10 billion is going to go fast, even if you are constrained and conservative in terms of what you are trying to defend, from what.’
Karako argued that Iran’s missile attacks on Israel in April and October 2024, and Russia’s ongoing onslaught against Ukraine, showed how vital missile defense is. He described it as ‘deterrence of shenanigans and aggression by the bad guys.’
‘The purpose of missile defense is not to sit and play catch. It’s not simply to defend,’ he said.
‘Its job is to defend long enough to bring your diplomatic, military, economic – various other tools in the broad national toolbox – to bear.
‘Long enough to get your bombers off the ground, or your ships out of port. You’re not going to be able to do it indefinitely. But you may be able to do it long enough so that China is aware it’s going to pay a very heavy price for doing that sort of an attack.
‘People talk about a cyber–Pearl Harbor. I worry about an actual Pearl Harbor.’
