Trump's Golden Dome still shrouded in mystery, even for its builders

Japan Times

2 days ago

The companies expected to create U.S. President Donald Trump's "Golden Dome for America' know the objective: to protect the U.S. from missiles and airborne threats. They know it means billions of dollars' worth of contracts.
But they don't know much about what, exactly, they are expected to do — and at an event last week, the government officials who might tell them weren't even allowed to mention the project by name.
Attendees at the 28th annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, saw signs early on that the topic on everyone's minds might be tricky to discuss. Before the event even began, the industry groups hosting it removed a Golden Dome-focused panel. "Information regarding Golden Dome for America will be promulgated by the government,' they said.
Major defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, RTX and Northrop Grumman, prepared slick websites and flashy sideshows for the conference to demonstrate how their work fits with the president's vision for an air and missile defense network protecting the entire U.S.
Their executives were all singing the same tune: The project is so ambitious and potentially lucrative that there's a role for everyone, and plenty of opportunity for collaboration, including between startups and nontraditional defense companies.
Just don't ask the government for details.
"In the last six months I've walked into many, many rooms and said, 'I can't take any questions on you-know-what,' and I've never received a question other than something about you-know-what,' Air Force Lieutenant General Heath Collins, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said to laughter after delivering closing remarks at the event.
Golden Dome will include existing systems, accelerated development of advanced technology, and ultimately new components such as space-based interceptors, according to Trump, who announced his plan for the program in one of his first executive orders after returning to the presidency. He also has said the project will be fully operational before the end of his term and will cost $175 billion. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the price tag for a network of space-based interceptors could be as high as $542 billion over 20 years.
Space Force General Michael Guetlein, who is leading the project, is expected to unveil its architecture by mid-September.
At the conference, industry representatives showcased their hardware, including RTX's Patriot missile defense system, which uses Lockheed Martin's PAC-3 MSE interceptor, and Northrop Grumman's Integrated Battle Command System, as they sought insight from the government on how the pieces will fit together.
Companies also pointed to the work they or their corporate predecessors had done on President Ronald Reagan's space-based Strategic Defense Initiative — the so-called "Star Wars' missile defense program that fizzled in the 1980s — saying they were up for the challenge of making it work 40 years later.
Riki Ellison, founder and chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said on the sidelines of the symposium that not being able to speak openly about an "executive order that is out in the public, that we're going to build this in three years for $175 billion — it just delays this process and puts more pressure to get this thing in play.'
None of the industry or academic sources interviewed for this article knew why there were such restrictions. In a statement, the Pentagon declined to disclose further information because of operational concerns, saying only that the Defense Department is gathering information to support Golden Dome.
The Pentagon has declined so far to detail which organization compiled the $175 billion estimate, how many years it covered, an annual breakdown of the costs and categories on which the money would be spent.
"It would be imprudent for us to release further information at this time,' Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson told reporters last week.
Space Force General Guetlein "just got in the building,' said Wilson, who pledged to be "transparent where we can be' about a "very expensive' but "very critical' program.
Not all of the government speakers at the event avoided the forbidden words. A NASA representative — notably not bound by the Pentagon's strictures — spoke about the work his agency is doing that could support Golden Dome, including advanced propulsion technologies and materials science.
Industry representatives say they hope to learn more soon.
The restriction on what can be discussed "seems to have been partially lifted and probably will be more lifted as we keep going through this,' said Milton Carroll of Peraton, which aims to help Golden Dome systems communicate seamlessly.
MDA's Collins also sounded an optimistic note, telling the defense officials, contractors and academics at the event that the program's launch presented a unique opportunity.
"It's a fleeting moment,' he said. "As history has shown, this doesn't last forever, and we need to make a monster change now.'