US President Donald Trump selected Space Force General Michael Guetlein to lead the Golden Dome missile defense program, a massive undertaking that aims to create a comprehensive shield against advanced missile threats targeting the United States.
During an Oval Office briefing May 20, Trump - flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Guetlein and Republican Senators Jim Banks (Indiana), Kevin Cramer (North Dakota) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) - announced that his administration has approved an “architecture” for Golden Dome and expects the system to be completed within three years at a cost of $175 billion.
As part of the project, the US would deploy missile interceptors in space to shield against ballistic and hypersonic threats.
Trump announced an initial funding of $25 billion for the project that will be completed by the end of his current term in 2029.
“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 are launched from space. This is very important for the success and even survival of our country.” Trump said.
“I promised the American people that I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield to protect our homeland from the threat of foreign missile attack,” said Trump.
Trump additionally announced: “Canada has called us, and they want to be a part of it. So we’ll be talking to them.”
Trump said the Golden Dome was made to take down “hypersonic missiles, ballistic missiles and advanced cruise missiles”, adding that the program would have space-based interceptors and sensors.
Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth, speaking alongside Trump, said the system is aimed at protecting “the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they’re conventional or nuclear”.
The announcement comes just months after January 27, when Trump signed an executive order to “immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield, which will be able to protect Americans”.
The Iron Dome is Israel’s missile defense system which detects an incoming rocket, determines its path, and intercepts it. The development of the system was funded by a grant from the US.
The White House has not yet released further details about the project. While Trump said the system would be developed in the US, he has not named which companies will be involved.
Over the past decades, China has greatly advanced its ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Moscow boasts one of the most advanced intercontinental-range missile systems in the world. Russia and the US have amassed the largest arsenals of nuclear warheads worldwide. The threat of drones has also grown amid advancements in technology.
China denounced the Golden Dome as a threat to international security and accused the US of prompting an arms race.
“The United States puts its own interests first and is obsessed with seeking its own absolute security, which violates the principle that no country’s security should come at the expense of others,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing.
“(The plan) heightens the risk of space becoming a battlefield, fuels an arms race, and undermines international security,” he said.
The Kremlin said the Golden Dome missile shield plan was a “sovereign matter” for the US. “This is a sovereign matter for the United States. If the United States believes that there is a missile threat, then of course it will develop a missile defense system,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
“In the foreseeable future, the course of events will require the resumption of contacts to restore strategic stability,” he said. (Sources: Al Jazeera; ABC News; AFP; File Photo: General Michael Guetlein © United States Space Force)
