Why Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Plan Falls Short on Nuclear Defense

Swift Summary:

• U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans for the “Golden Dome,” a missile defense system to protect against ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic threats.
• The project will cost $175 billion with an estimated completion timeline of three years; however, autonomous assessments suggest costs could exceed $542 billion.
• Modeled conceptually after Israel’s Iron Dome, Golden Dome proposes using next-generation technologies across land, sea, and space-including space-based sensors and interceptors.
• Critics argue the project’s scale is impractical due to physics constraints and modern adversarial measures,such as faster missile boost times and counter-kill systems from other nations like Russia or china.
• The plan also risks escalating a global arms race while weaponizing Earth’s orbital environment further complicating existing satellite networks like SpaceX’s Starlink.

Indian Opinion Analysis:
Trump’s declaration of the Golden dome reflects ambitious military undertakings reminiscent of past efforts such as Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). While the technological rationale may have improved since SDI days with cheaper launches enabling larger constellations, basic obstacles persist-such as the vast number of satellites required in orbit to ensure coverage against threats moving at high velocities through unpredictable trajectories.

For India’s strategic calculus: this development underscores an urgent need for vigilance regarding space policies amidst evolving geopolitics surrounding orbital militarization-a domain where India’s own initiatives (e.g., ASAT capabilities) remain critical both defensively and diplomatically.

Though, Golden Dome provokes questions not only about feasibility but also about long-term sustainability for collective global security frameworks-highlighting how overstretching defense ambitions can destabilize foundational deterrence models globally without guaranteeing extensive shielding systems are achieved even under optimal scenarios.read More