President Donald Trump was overconfident when he claimed that the Space Force would be able to build a Golden Dome before the end of his term, according to an exclusive report from The Guardian.
The plan is to have a military shield covering the U.S., equipped with missile interceptors in space.
But The Guardian revealed the president would likely only see the foundations of the plan before his term ends.
“The implementation plan for the Golden Dome produced by the Pentagon, as described by two people familiar with the matter, envisions having the defense weapons being ready only for a demonstration and under perfect conditions by the end of 2028,” the outlet reported.
The Golden Dome program will likely become operational in phases. “Initially, the Pentagon is set to focus on integrating data systems before developing space-based weapons later,” The Guardian’s sources said.
What might be possible is to have a base in place within 18 months that would let the Space Force track but not take out missiles.
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The outlet noted that what is likely to be in place at the end of Trump's term is a “network of space-based sensors and communications, and an attempt to integrate it with untested space-based weapons to shoot them down.”
However, the effectiveness of the dome is highly questionable.
The Guardian reports, “The defense department already struggles with ground-based interceptors, which have been in development since the 1980s to take out missiles in their so-called ‘glide phase,’ but still have only a roughly 20% success rate.”
The Trump administration has said the Golden Dome could cost around $175 billion. But the outlet reports, “The final cost could be higher, but Pentagon officials have said privately it depends on how ambitious Trump orders Golden Dome to be.”
One source told the Guardian, “If Trump wants the ability to protect against 100 ballistic missiles, for instance, it could necessitate Golden Dome having several thousands of satellites that will naturally de-orbit every few years and need to be replaced.”