That was from the ready assertion of House Command Common Michael Guetlein, Program Supervisor for the Golden Dome for America mission, who appeared final Wednesday earlier than a Home Armed Providers Strategic Subcommittee listening to held to supply an replace on Golden Dome and different Division of Protection (DoD) missile protection packages together with different senior officers.
In saying the Golden Dome program on January 27, 2025, Trump, in an Government Order stated, “The United States will present for the widespread protection of its residents and the Nation by deploying and sustaining a next-generation missile protection defend; the US will deter — and defend its residents and demanding infrastructure in opposition to — any overseas aerial assault on the Homeland; and the US will assure its safe second-strike functionality.”
Final Could, Trump predicted, “As soon as totally constructed, the Golden Dome will probably be able to intercepting missiles even when they’re launched from different sides of the world, and even when they’re launched from area, and we may have one of the best system ever constructed.”
Guetlein, simply earlier than the two-hour session ended, once more made clear, value could be an element within the system. “If we can’t do it inexpensive we is not going to go into manufacturing and that is one thing that others haven’t understood. As a result of we’re wanting on the threats from a multi-domain perspective, to verify I’ve redundant capabilities, and I haven’t got single factors of failure, so if boost- part intercept from area is just not inexpensive and scalable, we is not going to produce it as a result of we have now different choices to get after it.”
Throughout the listening to, Guetlein and the others made clear what an extended, expensive and sophisticated course of the Golden Dome will contain.
For instance, when Guetlein was requested what number of American cities are at present protected by Patriot or Terminal Excessive Altitude Space Protection (THAAD) batteries – the U.S. Military’s present ground-based anti-missile items he referred to above — he answered, “At present, none.”
I keep in mind again within the 1950-to-1970 Chilly Conflict days when the U.S. Military deployed nuclear-armed Nike surface-to-air missile batteries round main cities similar to Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, and the Florida coast to intercept Soviet missiles or bombers. One instance: again then 19 Nike anti-air websites ringed New York Metropolis.
As I learn Guetlein, Golden Dome would require Patriot and THAAD batteries to be deployed to a whole bunch of U.S. cities to supply the safety President Trump envisioned.
At present, a single Patriot battery value $1.1 billion — $400 million for the radar, management station and launchers plus one other $690 million for the interceptor missiles, at some $4 million every. As well as, it takes 90 service personnel to function that Patriot battery. A single battery can shield an space with a 42-mile protection radius, relying on the encompassing terrain, whereas its radar can observe as much as 50 potential targets and interact 5 concurrently.
A Patriot battery acts as a terminal-phase defend in opposition to tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, and superior plane.
The U.S. Military right this moment operates roughly 15-16 Patriot battalions, consisting of some 60 energetic batteries, with some 30+ stationed throughout the U.S., whereas the remaining are deployed in Europe, the Center East, and the Indo-Pacific area.
A single THAAD battery, designed to intercept short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, usually prices between $1 billion and $2.7 billion. A battery is comprised of six truck-mounted launchers, 48+ interceptors, the AN/TPY-2 radar, and fireplace management items. Once more, some 90 personnel are wanted to function a THAAD battery.
As of June 2025, the Military had simply eight THAAD batteries with 4 stationed abroad — in Guam, South Korea, Israel and Center East — and 4 on U.S. Military bases at dwelling.
Supplementing these terminal-phase protection methods, in contemplating this new Golden Dome idea, is the Floor-Primarily based Midcourse Protection (GMD), the one operational U.S. system theoretically designed to defend the complete U.S. in opposition to long-range ballistic missiles. Nonetheless, GMD is designed to defend in opposition to restricted ICBM threats from rogue nations similar to North Korea and Iran and never the superior ICBM capabilities of Russia and China.
GMD consists of a space-based and ground-based international community of sensors and radars to detect and observe threats; command, management, battle administration and communications; a hearth management system that may calculate interception factors; and simply 44 Floor primarily based Interceptors (GBI), 40 at Fort Greely, Alaska, and 4 deployed to Vandenberg Air Power Base, California. President Trump has requested funding for 20 extra GBI interceptors to be deployed in the US.
Every GBI has value roughly $90 million and the GMD system as an entire has been estimated to have value over $40 billion.
The U.S. Missile Protection Company (MDA) in 2021 awarded Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin contracts to develop a Subsequent Era Interceptor (NGI) as a follow-on to the GBI. In April 2024, the MDA introduced it had chosen Lockheed Martin as the only prime contractor for the NGI program’s growth part.
The NGI plan known as for the primary new interceptors to be operational by 2028 and the ultimate multi-year contract to be price an estimated $17 billion.
When Guetlein informed the Home subcommittee final week “Golden Dome for America is just not a single or static weapon system, however an built-in ‘system of methods,’” these three – Patriot, THAAD and GMD — are the essential methods I consider he was speaking about.
There’s additionally the Navy’s AEGIS shipboard anti-missile system, which additionally offers midcourse and terminal interceptions. However aside from the one land-based AEGIS system in Europe, the rest seem like wanted to guard the fleet.
Guetlein defined, “The structure that we’re constructing is a really versatile open structure design system in order that we are able to constantly modernize it because the menace continues to mature. It’s not a static structure. So we’ll proceed to improve alongside the best way to get after the menace.”
He claimed his new system “will improve the variety of threats we are able to defend in opposition to for a fraction of the fee…by constructing a modular, layered, defense-in-depth ‘system of methods’ the place all elements can function independently and, subsequently, might be changed with out having to rebuild the complete enterprise.”
Guetlein stated, “We’re going to ship an operational functionality by the summer time of [20]28 that can have the ability to shield the homeland in opposition to quite a lot of threats. The final word goal structure goes to be $185 billion. That is $175 billion as recognized by the President of the US and an extra $10 billion to speed up some area capabilities that weren’t initially a part of our structure.”
One other Home subcommittee witness, Lieutenant Common Heath Collins, Director of the Missile Protection Company, launched the concept that directed power weapons, lasers, would even be a part of the Golden Dome program.
“We’re definitely placing extra consideration into probably game-changing directed power,” Collins stated. “Capabilities in an unmanned air platform is what we’re centered on so we are able to deliver that functionality to the sting of the battle and skinny the herd of UAVs [unmanned air vehicles] – probably air threats and the like. So, we’re very into that and we’re driving by on that experimentation as we as we transfer ahead.”
Talking of Patriot and THAAD, Collins stated , “Now we have some very confirmed methods with unbelievable functionality…We’re at all times driving to determine find out how to drive the price of these down. One by the acceleration in portions that we’ll discuss. We’ll have a
financial savings in these. However these are fairly beautiful and distinctive weapons. As we transfer ahead we’re persevering with to push directed power and non-kinetics to alter the fee equation.”
Close to the shut of the listening to, Gen. Guetlein was requested to sum up “in layman’s phrases,” why Golden Dome was the suitable choice to fulfill the present menace.
Guetlein responded partly, “We’re seeing threats coming from the multi-domain atmosphere which means they’re coming from air, they’re coming from the ocean, they’re coming from area, they’re coming from land. They [U.S. adversaries] have found out find out how to get some low-cost threats in there as effectively to problem our depth, our defenses.”
Guetlein concluded, “That is driving a requirement for elevated journal depth [an adequate supply of interceptors] and a requirement for decrease value options to get after these sectors. That is what Golden Dome is specializing in…find out how to change that protection equation. And we’re doing that by partnerships with business, partnerships with academia and partnerships with the nationwide labs.”
I consider the reality is, because the U.S. found throughout the Reagan years, that missile offenses will at all times defeat missile defenses, and whereas an Iron Dome protection might be arrange for a small nation – Israel — no Golden Dome might be established to guard a big nation such because the U.S.
And, sarcastically, attempting to create a defensive system will ultimately result in a extra aggressive offensive arms race than exists right this moment.
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