Henry Sokolski
On January 27, President Trump ordered the Pentagon to develop “a reference architecture, capabilities-based requirements, and an implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield,” which, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, came to be known as the Golden Dome. On March 28, the Pentagon blew past the White House-imposed deadline.
This shouldn’t be surprising. “At a minimum” the report must include plans to defend “the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks from peer, near-peer, and rogue adversaries.” The White House then ordered that this report serve as the basis of a follow-on report on how best to provide theater defenses for U.S. bases and allies overseas from missile attacks.
Meeting even half of these requirements is a tall order. Consider: In 1983, when Ronald Reagan first proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the U.S. needed only to convince Moscow that the project was feasible and serious. The Soviets believed him, stoking fears that contributed to the Soviet Union’s collapse even before the U.S. deployed a single interceptor.
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