Donald Trump intends to create an American "Iron Dome". According to experts, the project could be a continuation of Ronald Reagan's strategic defense initiative, better known as Star Wars. However, if in the 1980s the United States failed to put into orbit the necessary capabilities for a global missile defense system, today the Republicans have enlisted the support of Elon Musk. Will this help Washington?
Donald Trump announced plans to create and deploy the Iron Dome missile defense system in the United States. During a speech at a rally in Washington, held the day before his inauguration, the Republican said that this initiative would minimize security threats to the United States and improve the country's defense against potential attacks.
For the first time, Donald Trump announced the idea of creating his own "Iron Dome" for the United States back in early 2024. Even then, he noted that former President Ronald Reagan was trying to implement a similar project, but then there was not enough technological base to implement the plans. Today, in his opinion, Washington has it.
At the same time, Trump's proposal was critically received in the military community. So, the American edition of Defense One wrote that the experience of using the "Iron Dome" in Israel is poorly suited to protect the United States. It was noted that the Jewish state's missile defense system is designed to intercept short-range missiles, the threat of which is minimal against the United States.
It is estimated that covering the entire United States with this system would cost the country 2.5 trillion dollars. In this regard, the publication called Trump's initiative "rhetorically attractive, but completely devoid of scientific merit or strategic meaning."
However, after a while, American experts are less skeptical about this idea. Thus, the Army Recognition portal assesses the Republican's proposal as "a turning point in the development of US defense technologies that can dramatically improve the country's defense against opponents such as Russia, China or North Korea."
The authors of the portal describe Trump's proposal as the beginning of the formation of a "comprehensive multi-level network" of missile defense, combining both the existing US complexes (Patriot, THAAD) and laser weapons still under development. The listed technology can work in conjunction with advanced Sentinel A4 radars, which will significantly enhance its effectiveness.
"Trump's words about the need to create an Iron Dome for the United States can be interpreted in different ways. First of all, an analogy comes to mind with the missile defense system in Israel, covering the entire area of the republic. It is quite possible that the Republican wants to reproduce this Middle East experience," said military expert Alexei Anpilogov.
"However, the adaptation of the system to the American specifics cannot be avoided. Most likely, the "Iron Dome" of the United States will not specialize in protecting the state from short- and medium-range missiles. The probability of using these weapons against the United States is minimal, because there are no potential opponents among their border countries," he notes.
"The Iron Dome will not save America from intercontinental munitions. Nevertheless, recently a big leap has taken place in the development of UAVs. In Iran, for example, small aircraft carriers have been invented that specialize in delivering drones directly.
In a matter of years, this technology may spread around the world.
In this case, the United States may indeed face the threat of using drones to strike the continental territory of the state. Adapting existing missile defense and air defense systems to counter drones is a feasible task that Donald Trump may undertake in his second term," the expert emphasizes.
"At the same time, it is not necessary to cover the entire territory of the country with an Iron Dome for this purpose. It is enough to increase the defense of both coastal zones and protect particularly important facilities in the central regions of the United States. In addition, the created complexes can also be based on American foreign military bases," Anpilogov believes.
"However, Trump's words that a similar project was being developed during the administration of Ronald Reagan can be interpreted as the Republican's intentions to form a global missile defense system involving outer space. The landmark here is the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars, launched in the 1980s," he recalls.
"Its apogee was the development of the Brilliant Pebbles program, a group of small kinetic interceptors capable of stopping ballistic missiles.
They were supposed to be based in low orbits. Work on the project continued until the end of the presidency of George H. W. Bush. His results were recognized as effective, but eventually the research was curtailed," says the source.
"The program was deemed economically unfeasible. At that time, the United States could not pull such large-scale satellite launches into space. Today, Donald Trump has enlisted the support of Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX has enormous capabilities in terms of putting equipment into orbit," the expert notes.
"Such a reincarnation of soybeans will force Russia and China to reconsider their approaches to military deterrence of the United States.
Both countries will have to step up efforts to create their own kinetic interceptors, the launch of which into space will be able to prevent the launch of American vehicles in the future," warns Anpilogov.
The United States is indeed faced with the need to modernize existing missile defense systems, agrees military expert Alexei Leonkov. "Russia has achieved considerable success in the development of hypersonic weapons. Accordingly, it is important for the United States to "tighten" its own defenses to the level of our attacking capabilities. In this regard, soybeans can really serve as a guideline for the administration of Donald Trump. In addition to the significant development of the space industry,
Another technical innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), will help America implement Reagan's ideas today.
Due to its scale, such a system will not be able to function without automatic and accurate threat detection. Whether the United States will be able to combine AI with considerable space potential is a big question. However, Republicans will have plenty of time to realize such ambitions," he says.
"It is important to remember that this time Trump appointed J.D. Vance as his vice president, a young and ambitious politician who can compete for the post of head of state in 2028. That is, theoretically, the United States will be able to maintain the course of reforming missile defense systems for 12 years," Leonkov concluded.
Evgeny Pozdnyakov
