Exploring Trump's Golden Dome Plan: What It Is and How It Functions

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President Donald Trump of the United States has revealed further plans for a “Golden Dome” missile defense system aimed at shielding the US from potential attacks, announcing that it should be up and running within approximately three years.

This contentious program is met with both political scrutiny and budgetary challenges.

What is the Golden Dome, and how will it work

The Golden Dome will “protect our homeland,” Trump said during an Oval Office press conference, adding that US Space Force general Michael Guetlein would lead the effort, and that Canada had expressed interest in being part of it as “they want to have protection also”.

First ordered by Trump in January, the Golden Dome aims to create a network of satellites to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming missiles. The shield could deploy hundreds of satellites for missile detection and tracking.

Trump remarked, “Ronald Reagan envisioned it long ago, but the technology was lacking,” alluding to Reagan’s proposed space-based missile defense system, commonly known as “Star Wars.”

When will the Golden Dome be completed?

Trump said the project would be completed by the end of his term in January 2029, but industry experts were less certain of that time frame and the cost. The program faces both political challenges and funding doubts.

According to Tom Karako from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “The new information brings the cost to [US]$175 billion [$271 billion], but the timeline is uncertain. It’s likely over a span of 10 years.”

Democratic leaders have voiced concern about the procurement process and the involvement of Trump ally Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has emerged as a frontrunner alongside defence technology companies Palantir and Anduril to build key components of the system.

The Congressional Budget Office this month estimated the Golden Dome could cost as much as US$831 billion ($1,290 billion) over two decades.

Why does the US need a missile defence system?

The Golden Dome idea was inspired by Israel’s land-based Iron Dome defence shield that protects it from missiles and rockets.

Trump’s Golden Dome is much more extensive and includes a massive array of surveillance satellites and a separate fleet of attacking satellites that would shoot down offensive missiles soon after lift-off.

The US faces various missile threats from adversaries, but they differ significantly from the short-range weapons that Israel’s Iron Dome is designed to counter.

The 2022 US Missile Defence Review pointed to growing threats from Russia and China.

China is closing the gap with the US when it comes to ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Russia is modernising its intercontinental-range missile systems and developing advanced precision strike missiles, the document said.

It also said the threat of drones — which have played a key role in the Russia-Ukraine war — is likely to grow, and warned of the danger of ballistic missiles from North Korea and Iran, as well as rocket and missile threats from non-state actors.

Russia and China earlier this month criticised the Golden Dome concept as “deeply destabilising”, saying it risked turning space into a “battlefield”.