The Trump administration's flagship Golden Dome missile defence system will include four layers — one satellite-based and three on land — with 11 short-range batteries across the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii, according to a US government slide presentation on the project.
The slides, tagged “Go Fast, Think Big!”, were presented to 3,000 defence contractors in Huntsville, Alabama, last week and reveal the unprecedented complexity of the system, which faces an ambitious 2028 deadline set by US President Donald Trump.
The system is estimated to cost $175bn (R3.06-trillion), but the slides show uncertainties loom over the basic architecture of the project because the number of launchers, interceptors, ground stations and missile sites needed for the system has yet to be determined.
“They have a lot of money, but they don't have a target of what it costs yet,” said one US official. So far Congress has appropriated $25bn (R437.69bn) for Golden Dome in Trump’s tax-and-spend bill passed in July. Another $45.3bn (R793.09bn) is earmarked for Golden Dome in his 2026 presidential budget request.
Intended as a multilayered missile defence shield for the US, Golden Dome draws inspiration from Israel's Iron Dome, but is significantly bigger due to the geography it will need to protect and the complexity due to the varied threats it will face.
According to the slides, the system architecture consists of four integrated layers: a space-based sensing and targeting layer for missile warning and tracking as well as “missile defence” and three land-based layers consisting of missile interceptors, radar arrays and potentially lasers.
One surprise was a new large missile field — seemingly in the Midwest according to a map contained in the presentation — for next generation interceptors (NGI) which are made by Lockheed Martin and would be a part of the “upper layer” with terminal high altitude area defence Aegis systems which are also made by Lockheed.
NGI is the modernised missile for the ground-based midcourse defence (GMD) network of radars, interceptors and other equipment — now the primary missile defence shield to protect the US from intercontinental ballistic missiles from rogue states.
The US operates GMD launch sites in southern California and Alaska. This plan would add a third site in the Midwest to counter additional threats.
Other technical hurdles the slides identified included communication latency across the “kill chain” of systems. Contractors such as Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, RTX and Boeing have a variety of missile defence systems.
Notably, the slides did not mention Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which was part of a bid for Golden Dome contracts with software maker Palantir and defence systems manufacturer Anduril.
The Pentagon said it is gathering information “from industry, academia, national labs and other government agencies for support to Golden Dome” but it would be “imprudent” to release more information on a programme in these early stages.
One key goal for Golden Dome is to shoot targets down during their “boost phase”, the slow and predictable climb through the Earth's atmosphere of a missile. Rather, it seeks to field space-based interceptors that can more quickly intercept incoming missiles.
The presentation highlighted that the US “has built interceptors and re-entry vehicles” but has never built a vehicle that can handle the heat of re-entry while targeting an enemy missile.
The last lines of defence dubbed the “under layer” and “limited area defence” will include new radars and current systems such as the Patriot missile defence system and a new “common” launcher that will launch current and future interceptors against all threat types.
These modular and relocatable systems would be designed to minimise reliance on prepared sites, allowing rapid deployment across multiple theatres.
Space Force Gen Michael Guetlein, confirmed last month to lead the Golden Dome project, has 30 days from his July 17 confirmation to build a team, another 60 days to deliver an initial system design and 120 days to present a full implementation plan, including satellite and ground station details, people briefed on a memo signed by defence secretary Pete Hegseth have told Reuters.
Reuters
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