British defence giant to make satellites for Trump's missile shield
British defence giant BAE Systems is to build satellites for a new American missile-tracking system that is poised to form part of Donald Trump's 'Golden Dome'.
On Thursday, the FTSE 100 company said it had secured a $1.2bn (£880m) contract from the US Space Force to provide 10 satellites for the Pentagon's missile warning and missile tracking programme.
The constellation will sit in a medium Earth orbit – between 1,000 miles and 22,000 miles above the planet's surface – and track threats including intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles.
It is eventually expected to form part of the US president's broader Golden Dome, a $175bn proposal to stitch together a network of land and space-based sensors and interceptors to shoot down missiles aimed at the United States.
Lt Col Brandon Castillo, of the US Space Force, said the system being provided by BAE would 'provide accurate real-time information to decision-makers'.
He added: 'This allows for additional resiliency in the missile warning and tracking satellite architecture.'
The satellites will use infrared sensing technology and, along with another batch commissioned under the same programme, will have 'the ability to track hypersonic missile threats anywhere on the globe', Space Force said.
They are planned for delivery from 2029 onwards.
Mr Trump announced the Golden Dome plans last month, reviving an idea for a global missile shield that was first mooted by former president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s – dubbed 'Star Wars' at the time.
The Reagan proposals have since been credited with kicking off a fresh arms race that piled fresh financial pressures on the Soviet Union before its eventual collapse.
However, experts have questioned whether, even today, it is technically and financially feasible.
The Trump administration's idea has also been partly inspired by the 'Iron Dome' missile shield used by Israel to defend itself against rocket attacks, over a smaller area.
Interest in the system has grown amid fears about the capabilities of new hypersonic missiles developed by China and Russia, which American defence planners fear could slip through their defences in a conflict.
Mr Trump has vowed that his system will be able to block all kinds of missiles, including nuclear weapons, using 'super technology'.
'This is very important for the success and even survival of our country. It's a pretty evil world out there,' he said last month.
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