ARLINGTON, Va. \u2014 The Pentagon has increased its cost estimate for the Golden Dome missile defense initiative to $185 billion over the next decade, up from a previously reported $175 billion, as the program shifts more funding toward space-based capabilities.<\/p>\n
Gen. Michael Guetlein, who leads Golden Dome for America, said March 17 that the additional $10 billion would be used to accelerate procurement of satellites and build out a space-based data network.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were asked to procure some additional space capabilities,\u201d Guetlein said at the McAleese Defense Programs Conference. \u201cSo we are at $185 billion for the objective architecture, which delivers way out into the 2035 time frame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golden Dome is a proposed U.S. missile defense architecture intended to protect the homeland against ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missile threats by integrating ground-, air- and space-based sensors, interceptors and command-and-control systems into a unified network. The concept includes a large space-based layer of satellites for tracking and targeting, alongside new interceptor technologies.<\/p>\n
The program remains in early stages, with broad funding and policy direction in place but limited public detail on its final design.<\/p>\n
Guetlein said Congress has so far provided about $25 billion to begin building the system\u2019s foundation. \u201cWe have been allocated an enormous amount of national treasure on the order of about $25 billion from Congress, of which we are off and running and building out the foundation for Golden Dome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He pushed back on outside estimates<\/a> that place the program\u2019s potential cost in the trillions of dollars, arguing those figures are based on assumptions about architectures that differ from what the Pentagon is pursuing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been numerous cost estimates out there in excess of a trillion dollars,\u201d Guetlein said. \u201cI would say the difference between what they are estimating and what we are building is they\u2019re not estimating what I\u2019m building.\u201d<\/p>\n The added funding is aimed at expanding several space-based efforts, including Air Moving Target Indicator satellites designed to track airborne objects across wide areas, a transport layer that would move data through space via inter-satellite links, and the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor<\/a> constellation being developed by the Missile Defense Agency.<\/p>\n No \u20182028 mandate\u2019<\/p>\n Guetlein also sought to clarify expectations about the program\u2019s timeline, disputing the narrative that Golden Dome must be operational by 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not have a 2028 mandate inside the executive order,\u201d he said, adding that the administration has set a marker for demonstrating an operational capability by the summer of 2028.<\/p>\n