Officials from the Defense Department are scheduled to provide President Donald Trump with a range of options to help him keep his promise of enhancing national security through a system inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile defense, as reported by U.S. officials and experts knowledgeable about the project.
Similar to former President Ronald Reagan’s initiative for the Strategic Defense Initiative aimed at protecting the U.S. from Soviet nuclear missiles, Trump’s proposal for an “Iron Dome for America,” often branded as Golden Dome, represents a key project that could integrate various air defense systems to safeguard the nation and potentially American interests globally.
The Strategic Defense Initiative, pejoratively nicknamed “Star Wars,” was never put into operation and was effectively abandoned shortly after Reagan’s presidency. However, Trump’s approach is considered more feasible than SDI, thanks to technological advancements since the 1980s. Yet, the grand vision being contemplated by the administration—such as countering nuclear missiles launched from distant continents—would likely incur significant costs and take many years to implement.
While there are now theoretical means to intercept the intercontinental ballistic missiles Reagan aimed to counter, Israel’s Iron Dome has been largely successful in neutralizing smaller rocket and artillery threats. However, Iron Dome faces a simpler task than any U.S. system would, as it protects a nation less than 1% the size of the U.S. from nearby adversaries, unlike the U.S. which must defend itself from threats across vast oceans. Trump’s Golden Dome is expected to be an amalgamation of systems designed to address various threats, including cruise missiles from coastal ships, ballistic missiles from nations like Russia or China, drone attacks within the continental U.S., and advanced hypersonic missiles capable of covering hundreds of miles in mere minutes.
Some components of Golden Dome may involve the adaptation of existing U.S. military assets, such as surface-to-air defense systems, destroyers, and fighter jets. Smaller-scale implementations could potentially be completed in a matter of weeks or months, according to officials. However, based on Trump’s chosen direction, it’s possible that the U.S. could invest hundreds of billions of dollars over the years to develop new technologies to expand the defense system.
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Trump’s executive order required the Pentagon to develop an initial blueprint for Iron Dome for America by mid-April, and it is these plans that will be presented to him shortly. His directive also stipulates that some aspects of the project should be operational by the end of next year.
Achieving much of Golden Dome by the end of next year may not be realistic, according to Mark Montgomery, a retired Navy admiral and senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a national security think tank in Washington generally associated with neoconservative perspectives, who hopes Trump forges ahead regardless.
“I’m glad President Trump put forth this idea,” Montgomery remarked. “I hope he possesses the patience and vision to appreciate the significance of a long-term solution that truly represents America, but it is likely that we won’t see it fully realized until he leaves office.”
Montgomery holds that the failure of previous administrations to establish a robust air defense system for the homeland has led the U.S. to this juncture and asserts that rectifying it could take four to seven years, rather than just one.
In the coming days, Trump is set to receive a briefing from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials regarding essentially three plans, commonly referred to in national security discussions as “Goldilocks options”: small, medium, and large, each with its own timeline and budget, as confirmed by administration and military officials familiar with the plans. Hegseth received these options from U.S. Space Command last week.
The simplest plan could be put together relatively soon at a cost of around $10 billion, whereas the mid-range option is estimated to be less than $100 billion. The largest plan could run to several hundred billion dollars, according to those officials and sources familiar with the proposals.
Hegseth has yet to determine which option to advance, as stated by the officials. The undersecretary for defense for research and development, James Mazel, is strategically leading the Pentagon effort, according to Montgomery, who maintains close contact with officials about this initiative.
The short term and the long term
While the exact options prepared for Trump remain uncertain, officials have identified several potential strategies at each tier.
The U.S. could quickly deploy some existing systems, such as Patriot missile batteries, within the next year. Furthermore, the Pentagon could reposition some Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems to intercept incoming missiles, as per the officials. The Army has THAAD batteries stationed within the U.S. for training that can be relocated to strategic sites for missile monitoring purposes, they added.
Other rapid actions could involve reallocating or strengthening existing missile defense systems, such as deploying Navy destroyers equipped with Aegis combat systems to monitor off the U.S. coastline, in the same way the U.S. has provided missile defense for countries like Israel, as stated by officials. Aegis-equipped vessels possess advanced radar and interceptors capable of counteracting incoming missiles; however, these capabilities are limited in both range and types of attacks they can address, Montgomery noted.
The U.S. could also deploy F-35 stealth strike fighters to conduct air patrols over the nation, per the officials.
The Trump administration might pursue other initiatives requiring more time. These could involve increasing the number of Patriot missile defense systems within the continental U.S. for intercepting missiles and drones, as well as establishing sites for Aegis missile defense systems akin to those currently in Poland and Romania.
Longer-term strategies could also entail the development of an expanded network of space-based interceptors designed to neutralize missiles shortly after launch during the boost phase, though building such a network could require years to finalize and deploy. This initiative would aim to establish a Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, essentially a communications satellite network.
One critical challenge to address is the fractional orbital bombardment system, a method that places a warhead in orbit and can drop it onto a target from space quickly. China has already tested such a system with a hypersonic glide vehicle in 2021, thereby gaining an advantage over the U.S.
The military is collaborating with the commercial sector to explore various components of Golden Dome, and a summit involving the Missile Defense Agency and the Space Force is expected to take place in the coming months with industry representatives.
