Trump’s Missile Defense Initiative’s Name Changed From Iron Dome To Golden Dome
It's not clear why gold was chosen, but it is famously Trump's favorite color.
Howard Altman
Posted on Feb 25, 2025
- This follows what seemed to be an off-hand comment Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made on Feb. 20.
- In a video explaining the Pentagon’s budget realignment plans, he listed “the Golden Dome, or Iron Dome,” as among defense programs that will be protected from any cuts.
- The MDA RFI seems to have codified that.
The choice of the new name was likely made to invoke Trump’s famously favorite color, gold. We reached out to the Pentagon and the MDA for more details about when the change was made and why. The MDA referred us to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. We will update this story with any pertinent details provided.
As we have previously reported, one of Trump’s first official acts of his second term was to order the U.S. military to move forward with plans for a massively enlarged missile defense architecture. Dubbed, at the time, Iron Dome, it notably included a call for new space-based anti-missile interceptors. The concept was something Trump talked about on the campaign trail and made official in a Jan. 27 executive order. You can read more about what we knew about the plan before Trump signed it into law in our detailed story here.
From our story about the executive order: It calls for a “next-generation missile defense shield” that “shall include, at a minimum, plans for” the following eight components:
- Defense of the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks from peer, near-peer, and rogue adversaries
- Acceleration of the deployment of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor layer
- Development and deployment of proliferated space-based interceptors capable of boost-phase intercept
- Deployment of underlayer and terminal-phase intercept capabilities postured to defeat a countervalue attack
- Development and deployment of a custody layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture
- Development and deployment of capabilities to defeat missile attacks prior to launch and in the boost phase
- Development and deployment of a secure supply chain for all components with next-generation security and resilience features
- Development and deployment of non-kinetic capabilities to augment the kinetic defeat of ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks”
MDA is seeking industry feedback on “innovative acquisition methods or contract vehicles” that could be used to speed up the procurement process of making Golden Dome a reality. The agency wants industry to point out changes needed to “reduce timelines and avoid delays” and “obstacles in regulations or policies that impede going ‘fast’ and recommended mitigations.”
- The name change came to light when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, while discussing programs protected from potential budget cuts, referred to the system as “Golden Dome, or Iron Dome” in a recent video addressing the Pentagon’s efforts to identify $50 billion in cost savings in the 2026 budget.
- What initially appeared to be a verbal slip has now been confirmed as an official program name change. “Please note the Department of Defense has renamed this program from ‘Iron Dome for America’ to ‘Golden Dome for America,'” the U.S. Missile Defense Agency stated in a Feb. 24 advisory to contractors submitting proposals in response to an agency request for information.
Neither the Department of Defense nor the Missile Defense Agency responded to inquiries about the reasoning behind the name change. A defense official said the decision was made by the White House.
The publication Defense News suggested a possible explanation might be trademark concerns, as “Iron Dome” is a registered trademark owned by Israeli defense firm Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which developed Israel’s existing Iron Dome system in partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
The program originated from President Donald Trump’s January 27 executive order initiating planning for what was then called “The Iron Dome for America.” The order established the development of a next-generation missile defense shield as national policy, citing threats from ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles.
While inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome air-defense system, the American version is designed to operate on a much larger scale, protecting the entire U.S. territory from advanced missile threats. Space-based sensors have been identified as critical components, with the executive order specifically directing the Department of Defense to explore potential deployment of space-based interceptors that would launch in response to an attack.
- The Missile Defense Agency is leading efforts to engage with defense industry partners to assess technological capabilities, with the U.S. Space Force expected to play a central role given the system’s reliance on space technologies.
The name change comes as Hegseth pushes forward with broader budget realignments, asking military services and agencies to identify $50 billion in potential cuts that could be redirected to other defense priorities, while protecting certain critical programs – including the newly renamed Golden Dome.
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