Here’s how the US’s new Golden Dome will work – and tackle its greatest threats

Earlier this week, Donald Trump unveiled his new line of defense for the US – a $175 billion ‘Golden Dome’.

Despite looking like something out of a Simpsons episode, Trump said the Golden Dome will have ground and space-based capabilities that are able to detect and stop missiles at all four major stages of a potential attack.

While the dome’s unveiling isn’t new – it was one of the 200 executive orders he signed in January after returning to office for his second term – this week marked the first time we learned the details about it.

The technology will allow the US to detect and destroy missiles before a launch, intercept them in their earliest stage of flight, stop them midcourse in the air, or halt them in the final minutes as they descend toward a target.

What are the current threats to the US?

Currently, China and Russia are two countries which have put offensive weapons, such as satellites with the ability to disable critical US satellites, into space.

In 2021, China launched a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile which circled the globe before cruising onto its target.

Ballistic missiles fly into outer space before returning on steep trajectories at higher speeds, but hypersonic weapons are faster and easier to direct.

The race to build hypersonic missiles accelerated in the last decade, which seems to be a major factor in Trump’s announcement.

Russia is also known to flex its missile capabilities. Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles are often on display during military parades in the country, and have an operational range of around 7,500 miles.

North Korea and Iran have also shown off their country’s missiles, which prompted the US to launch their nuclear-capable Minuteman III hypersonic missile in a show of force.

If tensions were to boil over, missiles in Russia, China and potentially Iran could reach the mainland US quickly – and Trump is worried.

Russia has roughly 350 intercontinental ballistic missiles. China has 400, and North Korea has ten or fewer.

Submarine-launched ballistic missiles aren’t as common, but Russia has 182, and China has 72.

In February, Trump carried out a nuclear-capable missile test launch. At the time, The United States Space Force said it was ‘part of the nation’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a credible deterrent and is not a response to current world events’.

How will the Golden Dome work?

The project is somewhat inspired by Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’, which helps shoot down missiles before they reach their target.

But Trump’s will be much larger – and likely include many more surveillance satellites. There will also be a fleet of satellites that will shoot down offensive missiles soon after lift-off.

If the Golden Dome is to work in the same way that the Iron Dome does, it would likely be made of It is made up of dozens of batteries, carrying multiple movable missile launchers.

The system would identify incoming missiles within a certain radius, before putting a path to the rocket into its command-and-control center.

Once they receive this information, the control center calculates the location of the rocket’s impact and whether it is going to strike areas inhabited by people.

What are the next steps?

Despite Trump announcing the concept, the Pentagon is still developing the requirements that Golden Dome will need to meet, which is not the way new systems are normally developed.

The Pentagon and US Northern Command are still drafting what is known as an initial capabilities document, one US official has said.

That is how Northern Command, which is responsible for homeland defense, identifies what it will need the system to do.

The US already has many missile defense capabilities, such as the Patriot missile batteries that the US has provided to Ukraine to defend against incoming missiles, as well as an array of satellites in orbit to detect missile launches.

Some of those existing systems will be incorporated into Golden Dome.

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