The Golden Dome is a space defense system announced by Donald Trump with the ambitious goal of protecting the United States from ballistic and hypersonic missiles. Recently, General Michael Guetlein, who is responsible for implementing this initiative, answered all questions about it.
Golden Dome
Recently, the American public received answers to some questions regarding the Golden Dome program from General Michael Guetlein, who is directly responsible for its implementation. He spoke alongside Senator Deb Fischer (Republican from Nebraska), Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, and Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden.
The Golden Dome is a comprehensive missile defense program presented this year by Donald Trump, which is to be based on the capabilities of American spacecraft in Earth orbit. In essence, this is the US president’s answer to the question of what useful purposes the US will spend the money on that NASA apparently does not deserve.
The program is extremely ambitious and envisages the creation of a system that will enable satellites in orbit not only to constantly monitor potential launch sites, but also to quickly transmit all this information to Earth, where it will be processed just as quickly. And then, if necessary, interceptor missiles can be used separately: kinetic missiles against ballistic ones, and separately, missiles with explosive warheads for hypersonic ones. And all of this has to work as one.
Guetlein’s assurances
Hundreds of billions of dollars are being allocated to the Golden Dome to achieve all this. At the same time, the program remains secret. The public is simply not told what exactly is planned and what has already been done. Even many companies do not understand what the government expects of them. There are plenty of questions.
And Guetlein has to answer for it. After all, he’s a general in the Space Force, and no one else should be competent in all matters. He did answer, and his answer basically boils down to the fact that everything is fine with the Golden Dome, the program is progressing as it should. And secrecy is part of that “as it should.”
At the same time, he understands that the American public is accustomed to more detailed reports on exactly how billions of dollars are being spent. But now too many people and organizations are interested in the program, who, according to him, do not need to know about its real status. Therefore, the secrecy may be lifted in 2026. Or maybe not.
Interceptors
In the meantime, Guetlein is calling on all private companies to participate in the Golden Dome. According to him, he has already met with representatives of 200-300 companies and personally explained what is required of them. He also stated that the problem was not technical, but rather that all delays were due to the old procurement system.
According to Guetlein, they are currently focusing on obtaining interceptor missiles. The Ministry of War has already been informed of what is needed, and now everyone is waiting for a competition in which private companies will showcase their developments.
Fisher, who heads the Senate Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, said she had no complaints about the level of disclosure to Congress, despite the projected cost of several hundred billion dollars. The decision on when to release more information should be made by the Department of Defense.
On November 25, Space Systems Command entered into agreements to demonstrate prototypes of space interceptors through Other Transactions Agreements. The Pentagon did not disclose the names of the winning contractors, and Guetlein said 18 deals had been made.
According to spacenews.com
