The United States administration has shared the plans for the ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system architecture with defense contractors through a series of slides titled “Go Fast, Think Big!” in early August.
The Golden Dome missile defense system is an ambitious, multi-layered defense architecture aimed at protecting the US homeland from ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, as well as other advanced aerial threats.
The program is a brainchild of US President Donald Trump, who has set an ambitious timeline for its completion in 2028.
The plans were presented to about 3,000 defense contractors at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, earlier this month, as noted by Reuters in an exclusive report. This comes as the contest for the Golden Dome is intensifying with major US defense firms gearing up to get a slice of the multi-billion-dollar missile defense system.
As per the plan, the Golden Dome architecture will consist of four integrated layers: one space-based and three land-based layers.
The first layer would consist of a constellation of satellites for missile warning, tracking, and interception, focusing on boost-phase intercepts. While the presentation emphasized that the US “has built both interceptors and re-entry vehicles” for space-based missile interception in the past, it admitted that the country has never produced a vehicle that can withstand the heat of re-entry while targeting a hostile missile.
The presentation stated that the program will have three land-based layers, including missile interceptors, radar arrays, and potentially lasers.
The upper layer will include Next Generation Interceptors (NGI), built by Lockheed Martin, integrated with existing systems like Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Aegis missile defense systems. Notably, a new large-scale missile field in the Midwest will complement existing Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) sites in southern California and Alaska to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
The US “Golden Dome” missile defense project, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome but much larger, will have four layers of defense: one in space and three on land, including 11 short-range batteries across the US, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Source: Reuters pic.twitter.com/Bat9KzH87K
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The underlayer and the Limited Area Defense will include radar arrays, existing systems like the Patriot missile defense system, and a new “common” launcher capable of firing current and future interceptors against various threats.
These layers are designed to be modular and relocatable, tailored specifically for rapid deployment across theatres. This will include emerging technologies like directed energy, such as lasers and electronic warfare.
This mobile and modular equipment would be made to reduce the need for pre-prepared locations, enabling quick deployment throughout several theaters.
The report states that contractors such as Lockheed, Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), RTX, and Boeing (BA.N) have a variety of missile defense systems.
Lockheed is developing NGIs and leading command and control (C2) prototyping at its Suffolk, Virginia, facility to integrate existing technologies, whereas Northrop Grumman, RTX, Boeing, and L3Harris are likely positioned to contribute to radar systems, interceptors, and integration efforts.
As previously explained by the EurAsian Times, Lockheed Martin hopes to gain a lion’s share of the contract by gaining the first mover advantage in one of the most important parts of the project. “I believe, based on the sheer numbers they’re asking about, it’s going to take more than just one big prime (contractor). It might take multiple of us, as well as a lot of the rest of the industry,” Amanda Pound, director of advanced programs development at Lockheed Martin, said. “The goal is to field an on-orbit demonstration of a space-based interceptor by 2028,” Pound said.
“We have the capability to do that. We’re ready to support,” she added.
However, the slides made no mention of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which was earlier believed to be bidding for Golden Dome contracts along with defense equipment producer Anduril and software company Palantir.
Although the system is expected to cost $175 billion, the slides demonstrate that there are still unknowns around the project’s basic architecture because the number of launchers, interceptors, ground stations, and missile sites required is still unclear.
“They have a lot of money, but they don’t have a target of what it costs yet,” a US official told Reuters.
Golden Dome Is Taking Shape
Trump announced plans for the “Golden Dome” system in May 2025. The project is estimated to cost $175 billion, with $25 billion already appropriated through Congress in July 2025 and an additional $45.3 billion earmarked in the 2026 presidential budget.
The Pentagon has set an ambitious deadline of 2028 for initial deployment, with the first major test scheduled for Q4 2028, just before the US presidential election.
The Golden Dome is designed to counter growing missile threats from adversaries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, as highlighted by a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment noting advancements in cruise missiles, hypersonic glide vehicles, and space-based weapons.
The system aims to integrate existing missile defense technologies with new innovations, creating a multi-layered defense architecture to intercept threats at various stages of flight, including the boost phase, midcourse, and terminal phases.
The Space Force would be responsible for deploying, coordinating, and controlling this vast defense grid. The executive order explicitly endorsed two satellite programs: the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) and the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).
According to a memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Space Force General Michael Guetlein, who was confirmed in July to lead the Golden Dome project, was given 30 days from July 17 to assemble a team, another 60 days to deliver an initial system design, and 120 days to present a complete implementation plan, including details of satellites and ground stations that Reuters has been briefed on.
While inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, which focuses on short-range rocket defense, the Golden Dome is far more complex due to the US’s larger geography and the need to counter diverse, long-range threats.
Unlike the Iron Dome’s localized focus, Golden Dome aims for nationwide coverage, integrating space- and land-based systems to address ICBMs, hypersonic missiles, and drones.
While the presentation suggests that the program is catching pace, there are a host of concerns, including technical hurdles; the slides identified included communication latency across the “kill chain” of systems.
Moreover, there is concern that the 2028 deadline is politically driven and could pressure contractors to prioritize speed over reliability, risking cost overruns or performance issues.
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