Commenting on the US military\u2019s \u201cGolden Dome\u201d program to create a comprehensive air defense system for the continental part of the country, the head of the project, Deputy Chief of Space Operations of the US Space Force, General Michael A. Gateline, revealed details about the reasons for such a large-scale investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur adversaries have become very capable and determined to threaten our homeland,\u201d warned Michael A. Gateline. \u201cOur adversaries are rapidly modernizing their nuclear forces, building ballistic missiles with multiple warheads, developing hypersonic weapons that can reach the United States in an hour at speeds of 6,000 mph, cruise missiles that can evade our radar and air defenses, submarines that can stealthily approach our shores, and, worst of all, space-based weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Satellites Enter the Game<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In response, the Golden Dome program envisions integrating satellites and other space-based technologies with ground and sea-based sensors, anti-aircraft missile launchers, and electronic warfare systems to counter a variety of threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n US President Trump also spoke about further plans for the program on May 20, stressing that \u201cthis is extremely important to the success and even survival of the United States.\u201d \u201cThe world is a dangerous place, and this system is a step towards saving a great America,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Golden Dome to be integrated into existing defense systems<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Golden Dome concept will be integrated into existing defense systems and should be fully operational before the end of my term,\u201d Trump continued. According to the US President, \u201cin its full configuration, the dome will be able to intercept missiles even if they are launched from the other side of the world – or even from space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump promised that the system would be \u201ca next-generation, high-tech platform spanning land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reagan\u2019s plan 40 years late<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In closing, he said, \u201cWe will finally complete the work that President Reagan began 40 years ago, ending the missile threat to America forever.\u201d The discussion was about the Strategic Defense Initiative, which was announced in 1983.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Cold War-era program cost the Pentagon billions of dollars, but it did not come close to providing complete defense against large-scale ballistic attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its cost was estimated at $69.1 billion and $145.7 billion (with current inflation, between $210 billion and $443 billion), with further stages requiring even more funds.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Golden Dome is designed to protect US territory from hypersonic weapons, ballistic and cruise missiles, and drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are \u201cthreats that the country\u2019s current defenses cannot address \u2013 they are too fragmented, limited in range, and lacking in technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cost from $831 billion to $1 trillion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Trump claims the system will be ready in less than three years, the feasibility of the project remains in question, as does Congress\u2019s willingness to allocate funds for its development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Congressional Budget Office had previously estimated the potential cost of the Golden Dome at $831 billion over the next 20 years. A more conservative estimate from the Chief of Space Operations, General B. Chance Saltzman, is over $500 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a strong possibility that, even if funds are made available, budget overruns will make the project unaffordable, preventing the implementation of the declared large-scale protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Current U.S. air defenses are incapable of meeting international threats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, the U.S. missile defense system is considered incapable of stopping a thermonuclear attack from any of the three potential adversaries with intercontinental-range arsenals: China, Russia, and North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All three countries have introduced hypersonic systems with nuclear warheads into their arsenals, making interception almost impossible, although North Korea has yet to install such warheads on missiles capable of reaching the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The implementation of the declared capabilities of Golden Dome would radically change the extremely limited capabilities of current American air defenses, especially in the field of missile defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the scale of the area to be protected, the size of the adversaries’ nuclear arsenals, and the enormous complexity of intercepting hypersonic targets, along with the usual high cost of such programs, call into question the viability of the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The United States has announced the largest air and space defense program in recent decades, the \u201cGolden Dome\u201d or Golden Dome. The Golden Dome…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,826],"tags":[4745,161,6984,6987,58,6798,70],"class_list":["post-24479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitical","category-usa-geopolitical","tag-air-defense","tag-china","tag-golden-dome","tag-missile-defense","tag-russia","tag-trump","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24481,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24479\/revisions\/24481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-124-1024x683.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n