Casey Christie
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing his Secretary of Defense to develop a missile defense system for the United States. He has given the Pentagon 60 days to draft a plan. Predictably, the announcement has sparked debate, with some questioning its feasibility, others drawing comparisons to past initiatives like Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or “Star Wars,” and some suggesting it mirrors Israel’s Iron Dome. But none of these comparisons fully capture the reality of what is needed. This initiative is not a resurrection of SDI, nor is it an attempt to replicate Israel’s Iron Dome. Instead, it represents a hybrid approach suited to contemporary threats – one that integrates emerging technologies with existing capabilities to fill a critical gap in US defense strategy.
Much of the initial criticism of the plan is reflexive rather than analytical. Historically, missile defense has been dismissed as unworkable – until it wasn’t. When Israel first announced its intent to develop Iron Dome, many experts said it was impractical, too expensive, or unnecessary and doomed to fail. Yet today, Iron Dome has intercepted thousands of rockets and fundamentally reshaped the battlefield. Had Israel heeded early skepticism, it would be far more vulnerable to Hezbollah and Hamas barrages.
The broader issue is not just about whether the US should develop this system, but why it hasn’t done so already.
But this is not about copying Iron Dome. The threats facing the United States are different. Unlike Israel, which contends with short-range rocket attacks, the US must defend against ICBMs, hypersonic missiles, and long-range strategic strikes. Hypersonic weapons, in particular, present an immense challenge. Moving at speeds beyond Mach 5, they are difficult to track and intercept. Unlike conventional ballistic missiles, which follow predictable trajectories, hypersonic glide vehicles can maneuver mid-flight, evading current defense systems. While the US military is already researching potential countermeasures – including directed energy weapons and next-generation interceptors – it still lacks a comprehensive defense against these emerging threats. Meanwhile, China and Russia are already deploying operational hypersonic capabilities.
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