US President Donald Trump has revealed that he has selected a design for America's Golden Dome missile defence shield, which will be installed within three years.
The programme, first ordered by Mr Trump in January, aims to create a network of satellites, perhaps numbering in the hundreds, to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming missiles.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday alongside Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Mr Trump said that the “Iron Dome for America” would be integrated with existing defence capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of his term.
“The Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they're launched from space, and we will have the best system ever built,” Mr Trump said.
He said that Canada had voiced interest in joining the project. The total cost would be $175 billion, he said, and the “big beautiful bill” he is advancing in Congress will include $25 billion in funding for the defensive programme.
The effort faces political scrutiny, however, and has drawn questions about its necessity, given that the US is bordered by two allies, Canada and Mexico.
Mr Trump introduced the idea of building a defence system similar to Israel's Iron Dome during his presidential campaign. The US helped develop the system in Israel and has spent nearly $1.7 billion to keep it stocked.
The system has enabled Israel to fend off rockets, drones and other projectiles from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq.
The President said that the Golden Dome is more advanced than the Israeli system to include hypersonic missiles, ballistic missiles and advanced cruise missiles.
Military experts have questioned whether a similar system can be built, let alone be able to operate with the same effectiveness in the US, given the country's vast size.
Also on Tuesday, Mr Hegseth ordered a “comprehensive review” of America’s chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The withdrawal came as the Taliban reconquered Afghanistan after two decades of US occupation. On August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber targeted crowds outside Kabul’s airport, killing more than 170 people, including 13 US troops.
A special review panel will “thoroughly examine previous investigations, to include but not limited to, findings of fact, sources, witnesses and analyse the decision making that led to one of America’s darkest and deadliest international moments” Mr Hegseth said in a memo.
