«Данное сообщение (материал) создано и (или) распространено иностранным средством массовой информации, выполняющим функции иностранного агента, и (или) российским юридическим лицом, выполняющим функции иностранного агента»
Topic: Air Warfare Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Americas Tags: Air Defense, Donald Trump, Golden Dome, Missiles, North America, and United States Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” Is a Golden Delusion December 9, 2025 By: Brandon J. Weichert
Share
The much-ballyhooed “Golden Dome” missile defense project may be necessary for America’s national security—but the technology to operate it simply has not been created yet.
There are two major takeaways from the recently released National Security Strategy (NSS) memo. The first is that President Donald Trump and his administration are truly committed to Western Hemispheric Defense—even at the expense of competing with China. The second is that the 47th president wants a comprehensive, space-based national missile defense shield.
The Golden Dome Can’t Handle Every Kind of Threat
Known as the “Golden Dome,” this is the system that the Trump administration believes will protect the United States from incoming nuclear missile attacks. Furthermore, it is believed that the Golden Dome will be used to defend against a variety of other airborne attacks from over-the-horizon, such as hypersonic weapons and possibly even drones.
Of course, defending against classic ballistic missiles, while no easy feat, is still doable. But protecting against hypersonic weapons and their radical maneuvers is next to impossible, at least with current technology. As for drones, the problem that these systems present redounds to the fact that they are small, hard to detect, and can get dangerously close to sensitive targets in the homeland before they can be dealt with—as evidenced by the New Jersey drone scare last year.
But the idea is for there to be a layered, comprehensive national missile defense shield that extends all the way from Earth orbit down to specific localities throughout the United States.
Golden Dome is not envisioned as a single system. Nor is it merely a set of interceptors. It instead involves a bevy of satellite constellations, radars, interceptors, anti-drone systems, and possibly even directed-energy weapons (DEWs).
In fact, an August report by Charles Lyons-Burt in the Potomac Officer’s Club outlines how the Golden Dome is a space-based and ground-based, multilayered defense architecture.
A series of closed briefings were set for November and December of this year between Pentagon leaders and Congress to share with elected officials the progress of this system.
No official word has come out about the outcome of those briefings.
Not Everything About the Golden Dome Is Implausible
What is known is that the Pentagon was eying SpaceX for what’s known as the “Custody Layer” of satellites. This is an advanced, sensitive constellation of military satellites that will be used to detect and track incoming threats. That contract is believed to be worth roughly $2 billion for a constellation that will comprise more than 600 satellites.
Without much public information available, one can reason that SpaceX was selected due to its successful handling of the Starlink satellite constellation and the related Starshield satellite constellation for military communications. Indeed, SpaceX’s use of smaller, less sophisticated, and easily replaceable satellites to form their constellations in orbit is likely what made Musk’s firm an attractive partner for the Golden Dome project.
This massive constellation of sensing satellites will likely be based upon the Starlink and Starshield model of redundant satellites.
Anduril, another defense startup specializing in automated warfare, has been awarded smaller, early-stage contracts. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and True Anomaly are also believed to have either received contracts for Golden Dome are will soon be announced by the Pentagon as having won contracts for the ambitious national missile defense shield.
The White House Has Unrealistic Expectations for US Missile Defense
When Trump announced the Golden Dome in July, he made clear his intention to have the system operational by the end of his second term in office—2028-29 timeframe. But given the extreme complexity and sheer size of this project, such a timeline appears completely impractical. Indeed, this might be one reason that nothing about those briefings between Pentagon officials and Congress have not gotten out.
Everyone involved knows this program, while perhaps necessary for US national security, is totally unworkable on the timeline given. While it is likely the satellite constellation needed for detecting incoming threats will be built, the issue of interceptors has yet to be resolved. And it will not be resolved in three years’ time—at least not on the current budget. (Moreover, there is no guarantee that throwing money at this problem will solve it. Spending more usually does not equal faster results in Washington.)
The real issue is the interceptors. By now everyone who has watched the popular Netflix film, A House of Dynamite, is aware of how devastatingly limited our ability to intercept incoming missiles truly is. Tracking them is one thing. But being able to shoot incoming missiles, hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles, and drone swarms down is entirely different. And much of the Golden Dome network appears to be simply repurposed existing interception technologies scaled to extraordinary levels.
The Technology for the “Golden Dome” Just Isn’t There Yet
For starters, scale is a major problem for America’s defense industrial base. Then there’s the issue of inherent limitations in things like Patriot missile batteries and similar existing interception technologies.
So, what about DEWs?
Well, the United States has fumbled the ball massively in the development of DEWs—to the point that the Pentagon isn’t all that seriously developing these systems anymore and is instead relying on allies, like Japan, to do this.
This has all likely been revealed in the closed congressional meetings. To be clear, at least part of the Golden Dome can be built. But it will never achieve the lofty ambitions that President Trump has—nor will it defend the United States fully against ballistic missile, drone swarm, cruise missile, and hypersonic weapons threats.
In other words, under current conditions, this Golden Dome appears to be little more than a sop for greedy defense contractors. It will not achieve its primary mission of protecting the homeland from any of the threats it is supposed to defend against. One can anticipate that, even after Trump is out of office in a few years, the program will struggle to make good on any of its timelines.
What Uncle Sam should be focused on is building space-based interceptors for ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons—not just putting advanced sensors in orbit. Actually placing interceptors in orbit, as former President Ronald Reagan wanted to do in the 1980s, is what the Pentagon should be focused on, even if in a limited, low-cost, and proof-of-concept way. Once this is accomplished, it can then build off those interceptors in space if they are proven to work.
Forego all other aspects of this project and let SpaceX take the lead both in satellite constellations and space-based interception technology. That’s not what is happening right now. And that’s why this project will collapse under the weight of its own ambition.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is a senior national security editor at The National Interest. Recently, Weichert became the host of The National Security Hour on America Outloud News and iHeartRadio, where he discusses national security policy every Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. Weichert hosts a companion book talk series on Rumble entitled “National Security Talk.” He is also a contributor at Popular Mechanics and has consulted regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, and the Asia Times. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock.
The post Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” Is a Golden Delusion appeared first on The National Interest.
Источник: nationalinterest.org