Trump orders development of "Iron Dome for America" to counter hypersonic missiles

Donald Trump has ordered the development of the most ambitious missile defence system in US history, aiming to create a shield capable of intercepting hypersonic missiles and preventing nuclear attacks.

The President has described the project as an “Iron Dome for America,” referencing Israel’s highly effective air defence system, Caliber.Az reports, citing Financial Times.

However, the scale and complexity of Trump’s vision more closely resemble Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative — better known as “Star Wars” — launched in 1983 at the height of the Cold War.

Trump’s proposed system, which includes space-based interceptors and laser-equipped satellites, is expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars and faces significant technological hurdles. Nuclear experts have also warned that the initiative could escalate tensions with China and Russia, prompting them to develop countermeasures that could render the system ineffective. This concern was one of the factors that led the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to move its "Doomsday Clock" one second closer to midnight this week.

Under Trump’s executive order, signed on January 27, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has 60 days to develop a detailed plan for defending the US against ballistic, hypersonic, and advanced cruise missile attacks. Unlike Israel’s Iron Dome, which protects small areas from short-range, low-flying threats, Trump’s system is intended to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that travel thousands of kilometres at speeds up to 15,000 miles per hour. The scale of the challenge is immense, with the US being nearly 450 times larger than Israel.

The executive order calls for a multi-layered defence system, beginning with a network of space-based interceptors, some of which would be equipped with lasers to shoot down missiles in their boost phase — the brief period before they leave the Earth’s atmosphere. If this first layer fails, a secondary system of lower-altitude interceptors would attempt to destroy incoming missiles before impact.

Additionally, Trump’s plan includes “capabilities to defeat missile attacks prior to launch,” implying the development of preemptive strike systems to neutralize threats before they can be fired.

Many experts doubt the feasibility of a foolproof, space-based missile defence system. “There is no magical security blanket,” said Tom Karako, a leading missile expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. One major obstacle is the challenge of targeting ballistic missiles in their boost phase, which lasts only three to five minutes. For a laser-based system to work effectively over such distances, it would need to overcome a phenomenon known as “thermal blooming,” in which the laser’s energy heats up the surrounding atmosphere, reducing its effectiveness. While this effect is less pronounced in the near-vacuum of space, it becomes a major issue once the beam enters Earth’s atmosphere.

Another challenge is powering the satellites carrying these lasers. Experts suggest they would require mini nuclear reactors or highly advanced solar energy systems—both of which would demand significant research and development before they could be deployed. “That’s not impossible, but it would require a major research and investment effort that couldn’t be completed in the short term,” said Fabian Hoffmann, a missile expert at the Oslo Nuclear Project.

The financial burden of the project could also prove to be a major obstacle. A 2012 study by the National Academy of Sciences estimated that even a limited space-based missile defence system would require at least 650 satellites and cost around $300 billion. The study also warned that such a system would be highly vulnerable to anti-satellite weapons, such as the space-based nuclear weapons Russia has reportedly developed in recent years.

“Space-based missile defences have repeatedly been abandoned because they are expensive, very technically challenging, and readily defeated,” said Laura Grego, research director for the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Despite these concerns, Trump’s directive sets the stage for what could be one of the most ambitious and controversial military projects in recent US history.

By Tamilla Hasanova