President Donald Trump announced the plan for his future Golden Dome missile defense program which is a multilayered, $175 billion system that will put United States weapons in space, for the first time.
The US already has many missile defense capabilities, such as the Patriot missile batteries that they have provided to Ukraine to defend against incoming missiles as well as an array of satellites in orbit to detect missile launches. Some of those existing systems will be incorporated into Golden Dome.
Trump directed the Pentagon to pursue the space-based interceptors in an executive order during the first week of his presidency.
Trump Explains Golden Dome
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said he expects the Golden Dome system will be "fully operational before the end of my term," which ends in 2029, and have the capability of intercepting missiles "even if they are launched from space."
It's likelier that the complex system may have some initial capability by that point, a U.S. official familiar with the program told Associated Press.
Trump, seated next to a poster showing the continental U.S. 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.
What Is Golden Dome?
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: detecting and destroying 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.
According to AP, 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 바카라” and for the first time, space-based interceptors 바카라” 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.
The Pentagon has warned for years that the newest missiles developed by China and Russia are so advanced that updated countermeasures are necessary.
AP reported that Golden Dome's added satellites and interceptors 바카라” where the bulk of the program's cost is 바카라” would be focused on stopping those advanced missiles early on or in the middle of their flight.
General Chance Saltzman, head of the US Space Force, told lawmakers at a hearing Tuesday that the space-based weapons envisioned for Golden Dome "represent new and emerging requirements for missions that have never before been accomplished by military space organizations."
(With AP inputs)
