Washington, United States – An introductory presentation by the US government about the Golden Dome project revealed details. It related to the pioneering missile defense system that the US administration led by President Donald Trump seeks to build.
The Golden Dome will consist of four layers. One in space and three on Earth. It will include 11 short-range batteries distributed throughout the mainland United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.
The show was titled “Go fast, think big!” It was shared with 3,000 defense contractors in Huntsville, Alabama, last week. It reveals an unprecedented complexity of the system that Trump requested to be completed in 2028, according to Reuters.
The cost of the system is estimated at up to $175 billion. However, the presentation showed that doubts still loom over the project’s infrastructure. This is due to the failure to specify the number of launch pads, interceptor missiles, ground stations, and missile sites needed for the system.
“They have a lot of money, but they don’t have a target for the cost of the project yet,” a US official said.
Congress has so far allocated $25 billion to the Golden Dome. This is part of Trump’s tax and spending bill, which he passed in July.
Another $45.3 billion was allocated to the same project in its 2026 presidential budget request.
What is a golden dome?
The Golden Dome is a multi-layered missile defense shield for the United States, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome. However, it is much larger given the geographic area it will need to protect and the complexities of the diverse threats it will face.
According to the presentation, the system’s architecture consists of four integrated layers. These include a space-based sensing and targeting layer for missile warning and tracking, in addition to “missile defense,” and three ground layers consisting of interceptor missiles, radar systems, and possibly laser beams.
One surprise was the presence of a large new missile field – apparently in the Midwest according to the map in the presentation. It will be for the next generation of interceptor missiles (N.Gee.i) manufactured by Lockheed Martin. These will be part of the “upper tier” along with the defense systems (THAAD) also manufactured by Lockheed.
