OPINION — “The Golden Dome for America technique [President Trump’s proposed nationwide anti-missile defense system] stays centered on reasonably priced and scalable capabilities. Within the short-term, we are going to leverage battle-proven applied sciences and techniques to supply rapid protection in opposition to present threats. By bettering, multiplying, and integrating present techniques, we will discipline a reputable protection now. Nonetheless, defeating an growing variety of refined, lower-cost offensive threats with a restricted provide of multi-million-dollar [space- and ground-based] interceptors is an economically untenable proposition in the long run.”
That was from the ready assertion of Area Command Common Michael Guetlein, Program Supervisor for the Golden Dome for America mission, who appeared final Wednesday earlier than a Home Armed Companies Strategic Subcommittee listening to held to supply an replace on Golden Dome and different Division of Protection (DoD) missile protection applications together with different senior officers.
In asserting the Golden Dome program on January 27, 2025, Trump, in an Government Order stated, “The United States will present for the widespread protection of its residents and the Nation by deploying and sustaining a next-generation missile protection defend; america will deter — and defend its residents and significant infrastructure in opposition to — any international aerial assault on the Homeland; and america will assure its safe second-strike functionality.”
Final Could, Trump predicted, “As soon as absolutely constructed, the Golden Dome will likely be able to intercepting missiles even when they’re launched from different sides of the world, and even when they’re launched from house, and we may have the most effective system ever constructed.”
Guetlein, simply earlier than the two-hour session ended, once more made clear, value can be an element within the system. “If we can not do it reasonably priced we is not going to go into manufacturing and that is one thing that others haven’t understood. As a result of we’re trying on the threats from a multi-domain perspective, to verify I’ve redundant capabilities, and I haven’t got single factors of failure, so if boost- part intercept from house shouldn’t be reasonably priced and scalable, we is not going to produce it as a result of we’ve different choices to get after it.”
In the course of the listening to, Guetlein and the others made clear what a protracted, expensive and complex course of the Golden Dome will contain.
For instance, when Guetlein was requested what number of American cities are at the moment protected by Patriot or Terminal Excessive Altitude Space Protection (THAAD) batteries – the U.S. Military’s present ground-based anti-missile models he referred to above — he answered, “As we speak, none.”
I bear in mind again within the 1950-to-1970 Chilly Conflict days when the U.S. Military deployed nuclear-armed Nike surface-to-air missile batteries round main cities reminiscent of Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, and the Florida coast to intercept Soviet missiles or bombers. One instance: again then 19 Nike anti-air websites ringed New York Metropolis.
As I learn Guetlein, Golden Dome would require Patriot and THAAD batteries to be deployed to lots of of U.S. cities to supply the safety President Trump envisioned.
As we speak, a single Patriot battery value $1.1 billion — $400 million for the radar, management station and launchers plus one other $690 million for the interceptor missiles, at some $4 million every. As well as, it takes 90 service personnel to function that Patriot battery. A single battery can shield an space with a 42-mile protection radius, relying on the encircling terrain, whereas its radar can observe as much as 50 potential targets and have interaction 5 concurrently.
A Patriot battery acts as a terminal-phase defend in opposition to tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, and superior plane.
The U.S. Military immediately operates roughly 15-16 Patriot battalions, consisting of some 60 lively batteries, with some 30+ stationed throughout the U.S., whereas the remaining are deployed in Europe, the Center East, and the Indo-Pacific area.
A single THAAD battery, designed to intercept short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, sometimes prices between $1 billion and $2.7 billion. A battery is comprised of six truck-mounted launchers, 48+ interceptors, the AN/TPY-2 radar, and hearth management models. Once more, some 90 personnel are wanted to function a THAAD battery.
As of June 2025, the Military had simply eight THAAD batteries with 4 stationed abroad — in Guam, South Korea, Israel and Center East — and 4 on U.S. Military bases at residence.
Supplementing these terminal-phase protection techniques, in contemplating this new Golden Dome idea, is the Floor-Primarily based Midcourse Protection (GMD), the one operational U.S. system theoretically designed to defend the complete U.S. in opposition to long-range ballistic missiles. Nonetheless, GMD is designed to defend in opposition to restricted ICBM threats from rogue nations reminiscent of North Korea and Iran and never the superior ICBM capabilities of Russia and China.
GMD consists of a space-based and ground-based world community of sensors and radars to detect and observe threats; command, management, battle administration and communications; a fireplace management system that may calculate interception factors; and simply 44 Floor based mostly Interceptors (GBI), 40 at Fort Greely, Alaska, and 4 deployed to Vandenberg Air Drive Base, California. President Trump has requested funding for 20 further GBI interceptors to be deployed in america.
Every GBI has value roughly $90 million and the GMD system as a complete has been estimated to have value over $40 billion.
The U.S. Missile Protection Company (MDA) in 2021 awarded Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin contracts to develop a Subsequent Technology Interceptor (NGI) as a follow-on to the GBI. In April 2024, the MDA introduced it had chosen Lockheed Martin as the only real prime contractor for the NGI program’s growth part.
The NGI plan referred to as for the primary new interceptors to be operational by 2028 and the ultimate multi-year contract to be price an estimated $17 billion.
When Guetlein informed the Home subcommittee final week “Golden Dome for America shouldn’t be a single or static weapon system, however an built-in ‘system of techniques,’” these three – Patriot, THAAD and GMD — are the essential techniques I imagine he was speaking about.
There may be additionally the Navy’s AEGIS shipboard anti-missile system, which additionally supplies midcourse and terminal interceptions. However apart from the one land-based AEGIS system in Europe, the rest look like wanted to guard the fleet.
Guetlein defined, “The structure that we’re constructing is a really versatile open structure design system in order that we will repeatedly modernize it because the risk continues to mature. It isn’t a static structure. So we are going to proceed to improve alongside the best way to get after the risk.”
He claimed his new system “will improve the variety of threats we will defend in opposition to for a fraction of the price…by constructing a modular, layered, defense-in-depth ‘system of techniques’ the place all elements can function independently and, due to this fact, could be changed with out having to rebuild the complete enterprise.”
Guetlein stated, “We’re going to ship an operational functionality by the summer season of [20]28 that can be capable to shield the homeland in opposition to quite a lot of threats. The last word goal structure goes to be $185 billion. That is $175 billion as recognized by the President of america and an extra $10 billion to speed up some house capabilities that weren’t initially a part of our structure.”
One other Home subcommittee witness, Lieutenant Common Heath Collins, Director of the Missile Protection Company, launched the concept that directed vitality weapons, lasers, would even be a part of the Golden Dome program.
“We’re definitely placing extra consideration into doubtlessly game-changing directed vitality,” Collins stated. “Capabilities in an unmanned air platform is what we’re targeted on so we will deliver that functionality to the sting of the battle and skinny the herd of UAVs [unmanned air vehicles] – doubtlessly air threats and the like. So, we’re very into that and we’re driving by way of on that experimentation as we as we transfer ahead.”
Talking of Patriot and THAAD, Collins stated , “We now have some very confirmed techniques with unimaginable functionality…We’re all the time driving to determine the best way to drive the price of these down. One by way of the acceleration in portions that we’ll speak about. We’ll have a
financial savings in these. However these are fairly beautiful and distinctive weapons. As we transfer ahead we’re persevering with to push directed vitality and non-kinetics to alter the price equation.”
Close to the shut of the listening to, Gen. Guetlein was requested to sum up “in layman’s phrases,” why Golden Dome was the correct possibility to fulfill the present risk.
Guetlein responded partly, “We’re seeing threats coming from the multi-domain surroundings which means they’re coming from air, they’re coming from the ocean, they’re coming from house, they’re coming from land. They [U.S. adversaries] have found out the best way to get some low-cost threats in there as nicely to problem our depth, our defenses.”
Guetlein concluded, “That is driving a requirement for elevated journal depth [an adequate supply of interceptors] and a requirement for decrease value options to get after these sectors. That is what Golden Dome is specializing in…the best way to change that protection equation. And we’re doing that by way of partnerships with trade, partnerships with academia and partnerships with the nationwide labs.”
I imagine the reality is, because the U.S. found through the Reagan years, that missile offenses will all the time defeat missile defenses, and whereas an Iron Dome protection could be arrange for a small nation – Israel — no Golden Dome could be established to guard a big nation such because the U.S.
And, satirically, attempting to create a defensive system will ultimately result in a extra aggressive offensive arms race than exists immediately.
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