Trump presents plans from $ 175b ‘Golden Dome’ Shield Defense of missiles

President Donald Trump presented plans on Tuesday to start building a new sophisticated antimile defense shield that could intercept threats from space, estimating that the effort would cost about $ 175 billion and would work again in three years.

The “Golden Dome” project, which will be led by the General of the Space Force Michael Guetlein, echoes the “Star Wars” program by President Ronald Reagan, which was criticized for being too ambitious and diverting money from other national priorities. The White House cited advances in technology as a reason why Reagan’s vision was now possible.

“This design for the Golden Dome will be integrated with our existing defense capabilities and should be completely operational before the end of my mandate,” Trump said when announcing the plan. “So we will do it in about three years. Once completely constructed, the Golden Dome will be able to intercept missiles even if they are thrown from other sides of the world and even if they are thrown from space.”

Trump began asking for an antimile defense shield from the USA. Similar to the Iron Dome of Israel a year ago in the campaign after seeing Israel divert about 300 missiles and drones in the middle of the attacks of Iran that spring. Military officers said at that time that they had not expressed the need for such an integral shield to defend the United States, while critics indicated that the United States was not threatened by their neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and is cushioned by two oceans.

Even so, some experts say that the idea of ​​improving the nation’s ability to defend against aerial threats is very late.

Tom Karako, an expert in antimile defense, said that the current American system focuses mainly on the ability to tear down intercontinental ballistic missiles of dishonest states such as North Korea. But the United States needs better protection when it comes to other threats such as drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons, he said.

“The truth is that we are quite vulnerable,” said Karako, director of the missile defense project and principal member of the Department of Defense and Security of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

However, a question is how much capacity the United States can develop in just three years, particularly considering Trump’s declared objective to develop a space of space -based interceptors.

“It does not mean that it cannot be done before what maybe some people think, but three years will push it for some of those things,” Karako said.

Standing with Trump in the Oval office was Guetlein, the vice president of spatial operations of the Pentagon who will direct the project, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said that the project was possible because technology has improved since Reagan’s days.

“The technology was not there. Now,” Hegseth said about Reagan’s “Star Wars” program. “And you are following to say that we will protect the homeland of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether conventional or nuclear.”

In Capitol Hill, the first indications were that the Republicans would support the effort with Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, president of the Senate Armed Services Committee, promising to include an “initial payment” of $ 25 billion in an upcoming bill of expenses.

However, the Democrats have questioned the high price. Senator Jack Reed, the committee’s main democrat, said last week that the White House requested about $ 113 billion in its budget for next year without describing a clear plan about what the program would achieve and when.

“That is essentially a granizer background at this time,” said Reed, D-Rhode Island.

Trump’s talk to build “everyone’s best dome” seemed to originate in the campaign. After seeing the successful use of Israel of his Iron Dome, Trump’s calls for an American version met cheers of the crowds in their manifestations so much that the Republicans included the construction of an American missile shield on their party platform before the 2024 elections. In January, Trump signed an executive order that asked Hegseth for this to happen.

“The threat of attacks by ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles, and other advanced air attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States,” Trump wrote in the order of January 27.

Since then, “the Department of Defense has gathered the brightest minds and the best technical talent available to review a full range of options that the current EE antimile defense technology considers. UU. And avant -garde innovation to quickly develop and present a reliable umbrella of protection for our homeland”, Sean Parnell, head of Pentagon of the Pentagon and Hegseth, the senior senior advisor, said this week, said this week, the senior advisor said in the Department of Defense that has worked on the proposal for the proposal to Propario de la Defense.

It is not yet clear how complete the system would be. Also in doubt it is whether such an ambitious program could divert money from other vital programs. The Air Force, for example, is in the process of replacing 400 of its intercontinental ballistic missiles built in the 1970s with new ones.

“Some American technologies in space, such as spatial sensors and air and missile defense, exist today, but all systems that include Golden Dome architecture must be integrated without problems,” Hegseth said in a statement. “Golden Dome will be sent in phases, prioritizing the defense where the threat is greater.”

Trump’s plan seems to be at the lower end of the cost estimates of Congress, but dramatically before possible. Earlier this month, the Congress Budget Office estimated that the United States would need to spend between $ 161 billion to $ 542 billion in 20 years to develop and launch a network of space -based interceptors.

According to the CBO, these cost estimates are lower than they would have been for years due to a decrease in the cost of available launch services.