Military strategy is one of the most complex and rapidly evolving aspects of human history. The earliest military expeditions involved walking across enemy lines with the hopes of surprising the enemy in their homes. As time progressed, the wargames that followed have consistently aimed to mitigate the threat of enemy incursions across borders. Most recently, as military expeditions have expanded to the sky, chess moves have become even more prevalent. In present-day warfare, countries have dedicated time and resources to building an arsenal of missiles and other projectiles that can quickly launch through the sky and reach enemy targets in mere minutes. This is challenging to defend against due to significant technological advancements. It takes time to detect a threat, go through the steps to launch a defense, and then accurately execute the defense before the missile hits the target. The next chess move was made. On May 20, 2025, President Donald Trump announced funding for a new homeland defense system. It is an upgrade of the Iron Dome System that is installed in Israel. It has been designated as the “Golden Dome.” To gain a comprehensive understanding of what it is and why it is important to the future of the United States, it is essential to know the history of its predecessor, the Iron Dome, as well as the impact that the “Golden Dome” will have.
History
Israel, backed by the United States, has consistently been implementing the newest defense technologies the market has offered. A major component of this has been the air defense system. A strong air defense system has three main components: detect, decide, and disable the threat. The first is detection or the recognition of an immediate and incoming threat. Deciding is the way to avoid the treatment will be avoided. What should the counter be? Should the place be evacuated and destroyed, or should another missile be fired to blow up the other before it can harm someone? The defense system must decide what is the right course of action. The final category is disabled. This is the physical act of eliminating or limiting the threat at hand. The defense system must be able to launch a response at the push of a button in order to be timely and successful in the defense.
The most recent and currently the most innovative air defense system is Israel’s Iron Dome. According to the BBC, the Iron Dome was developed in 2006 in response to attacks by Hezbollah, which killed thousands of people in Israel (BBC, 1). This was an innovative measure to improve the safety of the citizens in a land full of turmoil within a nation that is constantly under threat.
The “Iron Dome” is designed for short-range attacks. The BBC article elaborates on the setup of the “Iron Dome” when it states, “It is designed to intercept short-range rockets, as well as shells and mortars, at ranges of between four kilometers and seventy kilometers from the missile launcher. There are “Iron Dome” batteries across Israel. Each one has three or four launchers containing twenty interceptor missiles each. Iron Dome detects and tracks incoming rockets with radar and calculates which ones are likely to reach populated areas. It then fires missiles at these rockets, leaving the others to fall on open ground (BBC, 1).”
This is a high-tech system that can respond to attacks very quickly. Think about the reaction time of a system that detected, coordinated, calculated, and executed a response to an attack from four kilometers away. That converts to roughly two-and-a-half miles. It takes no longer than three minutes to drive somewhere that is two and a half miles away. The ability to respond to a flying missile that is launched from a half mile away is so much harder. The missile would arrive in seconds as opposed to minutes. This is truly a remarkable feat. Even further, the Israel Defense Forces cite a ninety percent success rate in preventing attacks when using the Iron Dome system. That is remarkable and proves how successful the Iron Dome is. The University of Colorado cites that the missiles that the Iron Dome detects and deters arrive at an average of one kilometer per second. That is a total of at least four seconds of response time. That is remarkable.
The question that follows is, how does this work? According to the University of Colorado, “For Iron Dome, it is a supersonic missile with heat-seeking sensors. These sensors provide in-flight updates to the interceptor, allowing it to steer toward and close in on the threat. The interceptor uses a proximity fuse activated by a small radar to explode close to the incoming missile so that it does not have to hit it directly to disable it (Boyd, 2).” This is extremely high-level technology that is efficient. It is one of the reasons that the Iron Dome is still being used and is still effective after twenty years of use. It has only been recently that chinks have begun to appear in the armor.
The attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2024, were a major highlight of this. The University of Colorado pointed out that a big reason for this was system overload. The Iron Dome only has ten batteries in operation. If a large-scale attack is sent from a short distance. It is likely to overload the system and not be able to take out all of the threats. Additionally, the counterattacks cost a significant amount of money. Due to the high-tech nature of the response missiles highlighted above, launching one to counter an incoming attack from a foreign enemy is not inexpensive. Oftentimes, the missiles attacking Israel are far cheaper than those protecting Israel. This cost disparity sometimes causes hesitation by the system controllers, leaving the system open to a potential letdown. This is one of the reasons why initiatives for a new air missile defense system have begun to take shape. The signs are on the wall for the slow reduction in the Iron Dome’s use. This is why the integration of the next generation is so important.
Golden Dome and Its Impact
With the history of the Iron Dome in mind, why is the Golden Dome needed? What is the Golden Dome? The Golden Dome is the next-generation air missile defense system that Donald Trump has planned to install over the United States and possibly Canada. In a White House release, the Trump administration stated, “Purpose. The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States (White House, 1).” This shows the concern by the White House of a potential attack and the skepticism of the White House about the current state of the present missile defense systems.
BBC highlights some of the core issues with the present missile defense system, providing a blunt and dark view of threats under the current system. The article describes, “Even a single, relatively small nuclear detonation hundreds of miles above the heads of Americans would create an electromagnetic pulse – or EMP – that would have apocalyptic results. Planes would fall out of the sky across the country. Everything from handheld electronics and medical devices to water systems would be rendered completely useless (Debusman Jr, 1).” This is a dark scenario that describes the state of the United States if an attack were to occur under the current missile defense system. An author and weapons researcher from Montreat College describes the possible situation as “setting the United States back over one hundred years (Debusman Jr, 1).” It is hard to imagine a future America in a situation that is grave and dark, but with current technology, that is a possibility under the right circumstances. This is one of the core reasons President Trump has pushed for this technological upgrade.
At this point, it is vital to ask the question, what upgrades would the Golden Dome entail, and how does it work? The answer to this is complex, but important. Lockheed Martin is one of the top military developers in the world and has been in part tasked with designing and creating the next piece of state-of-the-art defense technology. Lockheed Martin describes the Golden Dome as “Golden Dome for America is a revolutionary concept to further the goals of peace through strength, and President Trump’s vision for deterring adversaries from attacks on the homeland. This next-generation defense shield will identify incoming projectiles, calculate trajectory, and deploy interceptor missiles to destroy them mid-flight, safeguarding the homeland and projecting American Strength (Lockheed Martin, 1).” This is a strong testament to the possibilities of the Golden Dome. This is an upgrade to the Iron Dome, which does this on a smaller scale, making the possibilities wider in the scale of protection that the Iron Dome could ensure.
The Golden Dome aims to use the new technology from Lockheed Martin to provide security from numerous advanced technological threats, including those that travel in various ways through and above the atmosphere. It aims to defend against Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, (ICBMs), which can be launched from land or sea, possibly carrying nuclear warheads; hypersonic missiles, which are over five times the speed of sound; and the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS), which are low orbiting ballistic missiles that release nuclear warheads when over their intended target (Debusman Jr, 2). All these threats are modern innovations that have been largely developed by the United States’ biggest rivals. This is why the urgency is in President Trump’s employment in the Golden Dome implementation process.
This implementation process is not a quick one either. According to Tony Karako of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he estimates that the Golden Dome would not be fully functional and operational for another ten years (Stone and Mason, 3). Other sources have suggested that the Golden Dome would cost approximately 175 billion dollars and not be operational until 2028 (Lowell, 1). This operational use suggested by Lowell would only be demonstrable by the year 2028. One of the reasons for this is the highly technologically manufactured parts that not only need to be loaded and established online but also be present in Space. Lowell discusses this point by saying, “By the end of Trump’s term, instead, the Pentagon could have the network of space-based sensors and communications and attempt to integrate it with untested space-based weapons to shoot them down. The space-based network is likely to rely heavily on Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has been developing a next-generation tracking system known as the “aerial moving target identifier”. The Defense Department acquired the prototypes last year during the Biden administration (Lowell, 2).” This is a massive development that only adds credibility to President Trump’s installation of the United States Space Force during his first term in office. The infrastructure is already in place to monitor, install, maintain, and service the equipment that will be so crucial to the United States’ defense. The Space Force is not the only military branch or government agency that is essential for this. The Air Force, Army, Navy, Missile Defense Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office are all playing instrumental roles in this project (Darling, 4).
It is for this reason that President Trump has nominated the Vice Chief of Space Operations in the U.S. Space Force, General Michael A. Guetlein, to oversee the construction and implementation of the Golden Dome. Guetlein has previously compared the Golden Dome expansion to a case of the Manhattan Project on steroids, noting the major impact it will have on the United States’ defense strategy and systems going forward (Cohen, 7). This will be a revolutionary change for the United States, as it has not had a military technology advancement as significant as this since the Manhattan Project, which built the first nuclear bomb and changed warfare forever.
Despite the technological advancement that is sure to come from this project, some hold serious concerns. One such concern from the CATO Institute highlights the difference in geography between Israel and the United States. The relative size comparison of the countries poses a concern when trying to scale the defense system. There is a lot more area and land to observe and protect, which could make the Golden Dome somewhat inefficient and less effective than the predecessor Iron Dome (Glitner and Logan 1).
The other serious concern with this idea is cost. For a military system this vast and complex, it is no stretch of the imagination to conclude that this will be a costly endeavor. President Trump tagged the creation with a $175 billion price tag. While expensive, this is not the final estimation of the true cost of the project. The Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analyzed the cost of not the exact Golden Dome, but other Space-Based Interceptors. In this analysis, they identified that the cheapest cost alternative would be a comparatively respectable $161 billion. This was the absolute cheapest, however. The highest cost alternative, which the United States will probably end closer to, was $542 billion (Revell 2). This would be an extremely hefty markup that the taxpayers would certainly feel. It would be extremely hard to foster positivity towards this project if the cost exploded in this way. It would more than likely have a very detrimental effect on the citizens of the United States and the markets in turn. In reality, if the United States had built Ronald Reagan’s Space Based Interceptors in the 1980s and the 1990s, the cost would not be so high and so impactful to the people. This is partially the fault of previous administrations for not doing the work necessary to create and prepare innovative military technology that would have been innovative and necessary in the future. Instead of utilizing the research and technology that was created in the 1980s and 1990s, the United States must start from scratch in order to create the advanced military defense system discussed today.
Conclusion
To conclude, through the historical impact of the Iron Dome and the potential capabilities of the Golden Dome, it is understandable to see the direction that President Trump wants to go with national security. Overall, it is a military return to the Reagan roots for the United States. Fox News stated, “Trump’s order cited former President Ronald Reagan’s so-called ‘Star Wars’ plan to build laser-based nuclear defense systems against the Soviet Union (Creitz, 3).” President Trump again later quoted former President Ronald Reagan’s desires when President Trump stated, “We will truly be completing the job that President Reagan started 40 years ago, forever ending the missile threat to the American homeland (Atherton, 1).” This is a monumental step for the safety of the nation, and it harkens back to one of President Reagan’s most sought-after ideas. While some proponents and opponents question the cost-effectiveness and the reality of this idea, the Golden Dome provides a new era of United States home defense that is focused on protecting the American people.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said regarding the Golden Dome, “The Department remains committed to providing our nation with a strong, credible deterrent and will ensure all work done on Golden Dome for America adds to and does not detract from our ability to deter nuclear and non-nuclear strategic attacks on the United States. Our goal is peace through strength. Golden Dome ensures that the American homeland is not left exposed while adversaries develop more advanced and lethal long-range weapons (Hegseth, 7).”
References
- Atherton, Kelsey D. “Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ System Is an Expensive Way to Make America Less Safe.” MSNBC.com, MSNBC, 28 May 2025, www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-golden-dome-missile-defense-nuclear-rcna208521.
- BBC. “How Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Shield Works.” BBC News, 17 May 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-20385306.
- Boyd, Iain. “Israel’s Iron Dome Air Defense System Works Well – Here’s How Hamas Got around It.” Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine, 13 Oct. 2023, www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2023/10/13/israels-iron-dome-air-defense-system-works-well-heres-how-hamas-got-around-it.
- “C2BMC.” Lockheed Martin, 2025, www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/missile-defense/golden-dome-missile-defense.html.
- Cohen, Rachel. “Trump Formally Nominates Guetlein as Golden Dome Czar.” Air & Space Forces Magazine, 19 June 2025, www.airandspaceforces.com/trump-formally-nominates-guetlein-as-golden-dome-czar/. Accessed 29 June 2025.
- Creitz, Charles. “Golden Dome” Comprehensive Weapons Defenses in the Works as Lawmakers Make Trump Dream a Reality.” Fox News, 24 June 2025, www.foxnews.com/politics/us-golden-dome-comprehensive-weapons-defenses-works-lawmakers-make-trump-dream-reality. Accessed 29 June 2025.
- Darling, Daniel. “Inside Trump’s Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield – GovExec Space Project.” Govexec.com, 2025, spaceproject.govexec.com/defense/2025/03/inside-trumps-golden-dome-next-gen-missile-defense-shield-america/403807/. Accessed 29 June 2025.
- Glitner, Benjamin, and Justin Logan. “Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Will Raise the Risk of Attack on US.” CATO.org, CATO Institute, 25 May 2025, www.cato.org/commentary/trumps-golden-dome-will-raise-risk-attack-us. Accessed 24 July 2025.
- Hegseth, Pete. “Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Statement on Golden Dome for America.” U.S. Department of Defense, 2025, www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4193417/secretary-of-defense-pete-hegseth-statement-on-golden-dome-for-america/.
- Jr, Bernd Debusmann. “Can Trump’s Pricey ‘Golden Dome’ Missile Defense System Be Done?” BBC News, 23 May 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyvmj6mem70o.
- Lowell, Hugo. “Golden Dome Missile Defense Program Won’t Be Operational by End of Trump’s Term.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 30 May 2025, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/trump-golden-dome-missile-defense.
- Revell, Eric. “How Much Will Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Missile Defense System Cost?” Fox Business, 21 May 2025, www.foxbusiness.com/politics/how-much-trumps-golden-dome-missile-defense-system-cost. Accessed 24 July 2025.
- Stone, Mike, and Jeff Mason. “Trump to Make Golden Dome Announcement on Tuesday, US Officials Say.” Reuters, 20 May 2025, www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-make-golden-dome-announcement-tuesday-us-official-says-2025-05-20/.
- “The Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield.” The White House, 21 May 2025, www.whitehouse.gov/videos/the-golden-dome-missile-defense-shield-2/. Accessed 29 June 2025.
- The White House. “The Iron Dome for America – the White House.” The White House, 28 Jan. 2025, www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/the-iron-dome-for-america/.
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