The Congressional Budget Office released a report this week which estimates the Golden Dome for America, a massive proposed defense network, would cost $1.2 trillion over 20 years.
The Trump administration estimates building the defense network around the country would cost $185 billion.
The CBO worked from publicly available documents, including President Donald Trump’s executive order authorizing the program. Large portions of the project have not been made public, making it difficult to produce a true estimate.
The most expensive part is a system of satellites designed to shoot down incoming missiles during their launch phase, before they reach space. The projectiles that would shoot down those missiles have not yet been designed. The space based interceptor system makes up $743 billion of the $1.2 estimate, according to the report.
Even fully deployed, the system would be robust enough to handle regional threats like North Korea, but it would be overwhelmed by near-peer competitors like Russia and China during an all out assault, the CBO said.
In an April 23 speech at Fort Story, Project Director Gen. Mike Guetleim said the Department of Defense plans to have a system running by 2029. The aggressive timeframe lines up with the end of Trump’s term.
“To defend North America and win tomorrow's fight, we must maintain our warfighting advantages and operate beyond stovepiped systems operating at human speed,” Guetleim said. “Golden Dome is forging the integrated, automated battle management network needed to see every threat, make decisions in milliseconds and keep America safe."
Guetleim was flanked by several of the country’s existing missile defense systems, including batteries of mobile THAAD and Patriot missiles. It was the first public roll out of the Golden Dome project outside Washington D.C. The Virginia Beach base houses one of the long-range sensors that is expected to be part of the new system.
Congress has approved $25 billion for the project in the massive tax and spending bill passed last year. The DOD is asking for another $17 billion in a proposed reconciliation bill.
