KARACHI – United States President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome could make America untouchable as POTUS unveiled new details on his plan for state of the art missile shield system.
Trump, known for his massive spending on modern warfare, announced $25 billion in initial funding for the plan, which he said could eventually cost a total of some $175 billion.
“In the campaign I promised the American people I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield,” Trump said at the White House. “Today I am pleased to announce we have officially selected architecture for this state-of-the-art system.”
‘Golden Dome’ Missile Shield
“Golden Dome is said to be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of world, and even if they are launched from space,” he said. “This is very important for the success and even survival of our country.”
US Space Force General Michael Guetlein will lead the effort, and that Canada has expressed interest in being part of it as “they want to have protection also.” While Trump put the total price at $175 billion, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost of space-based interceptors to defeat a limited number of intercontinental ballistic missiles at between $161 billion and $542 billion over 20 years.
Golden Dome has more expansive goals, with Trump saying it “will deploy next-generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors.”
The plan’s Golden Dome name stems from Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system that has intercepted thousands of short-range rockets and other projectiles since it went into operation in 2011. US faces various missile threats from adversaries, but they differ significantly from the short-range weapons that Israel’s Iron Dome is designed to counter.
Beijing is closing gap with Washington when it comes to ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Moscow is modernizing its intercontinental-range missile systems and developing advanced precision strike missiles, the document said.
On the other hand, Kremlin, and Beijing slammed Golden Dome concept as “deeply destabilizing,” saying it risked turning space into a “battlefield.”
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