Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system—a $175 billion initiative aiming to shield the U.S. from nuclear, ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missile threats—faces a host of significant challenges and criticisms across technical, financial, geopolitical, and strategic domains.
“President Donald Trump left out a key detail this week when he outlined his plans for a massive missile and air defense shield over the continent: He can’t build it without Canada,” Politico reports.
“And it’s not clear America’s northern neighbor wants in.”
“Canada would need to play a pivotal role in Trump’s signature, potentially $500 billion effort to build the so-called Golden Dome, according to U.S. officials and experts, with Ottawa providing radars and airspace needed to track incoming missiles in the Arctic.”
The Golden Dome envisions a vast network of ground- and space-based sensors and interceptors, drawing inspiration from Israel’s Iron Dome but scaled up to cover the entire U.S., a country more than 400 times larger than Israel.
Experts highlight that the plan faces “a major obstacle: Physics.” Intercepting missiles, especially those launched from the other side of the world or from space, is an extremely complex task. Even the most optimistic missile defense models suggest that achieving comprehensive coverage for $175 billion is impossible, especially within Trump’s proposed three-year timeline.
Past attempts at similar systems, such as Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”), failed due to insurmountable technological hurdles and prohibitive costs, despite decades of research and investment.