Trump’s Golden Dome initiative would give the continental United States an unprecedented air defense capacity.
This week, Republican leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee put forth a reconciliation bill totaling $150 billion. Nearly half of the proposed budget incorporated defense-related spending objectives, including roughly $25 million of funding to begin President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” project. “This legislation is a historic investment of $150 billion to restore America’s military capabilities and strengthen our national defense,” said HASC Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala. “America’s deterrence is failing and without a generational investment in our national defense, we will lose the ability to defeat our adversaries. With this bill, we have the opportunity to get back on track and restore our national security and global leadership.” The bill also includes funding for space systems, emerging technologies, cyber capabilities, and shipbuilding.
The Golden Dome Initiative
Conceptualized to function similarly to the Israeli Iron Dome apparatus, the U.S.-based Golden Dome is meant to serve as a premiere air defense system for America. Considering the ramp-up in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Ukraine, the Red Sea, and other modern conflicts, the push to field more advanced and effective air defense processes has increased. Israel’s Iron Dome, with a success rate of over 90 percent, has been an instrumental defense tool used by the Israel Defense Forces to thwart adversarial projectile barrages following the Hamas-led October 2023 massacre. In total, the Iron Dome along with its other tiered air defense apparatuses in Israel, has intercepted thousands of drones, missiles, rockets, and other projectiles.
As explained in a Breaking Defense report, many Israeli air defensive capabilities have been constructed with American development dollars but have not “flowed back to the U.S. in any meaningful way.” Trump’s Golden Dome initiative, if fielded, would give the continental United States an unprecedented air defense capacity. However, considering Israel is roughly the size of the state of New Jersey, an American Golden Dome would be vastly greater in size and therefore far pricier. The $150 billion reconciliation bill would in theory help fund this massive initiative.
Shipbuilding
The U.S. Navy is perhaps suffering the most when it comes to delayed production timelines. Nearly all of the service’s upcoming projects have been hampered, particularly by shipbuilding issues. From frigates and destroyers to aircraft carriers and submarines, domestic shipbuilding in America needs a rework. Earlier this year, Trump pledged to “resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, including commercial shipbuilding and military shipbuilding,” adding, “We used to make so many ships. We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact to further enhance our national security.” Labor retention has arguably remained the greatest hurdle to the Navy’s shipbuilding issues. A report by the U.S. Naval Institute spelled out how increasing wages for welders, electricians, shipfitters, and other shipyard workers would be critical to maintaining an adequate workforce.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: Marie Selissky / Shutterstock.com
