. . .“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 (MDA) wrote
in a recent request seeking input from industry on how it could
contribute to this effort.
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”
A
graphic showing, in a very rudimentary way, the difference in
trajectories between a traditional ballistic missile and a hypersonic
boost-glide vehicle. GAO
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.”
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has quietly renamed the Trump administration’s ambitious national missile defense initiative from “Iron Dome for America” to “Golden Dome for America,” according to a recent advisory to defense contractors.
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 arecent video addressingthe Pentagon’s efforts to identify$50 billion in cost savingsin 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.
The notice, sent just days before the February 28 submission deadline, indicated the agency would maintain its original file systems despite the change:
“Since the RFI will close in less than a week, our drop boxes and other related items will remain as ‘Iron Dome for America.'” 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 Newssuggested 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’sJanuary 27 executive orderinitiating 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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NARRATIVE:"I note that the first contacts with the new American administration
inspire certain hopes. There is a reciprocal mood to work to restore
intergovernmental ties and to gradually resolve the huge number of
systemic and strategic problems that have built up in the world's
security architecture,"said Putin.
But
Putin said it was clear that not all countries were in favour of the
idea of warmer ties between the world's two biggest nuclear powers.
"We
understand that not everyone is happy with the resumption of
Russian-American contacts. Some Western elites are still determined to
maintain instability in the world, and these forces will try to disrupt
or compromise the dialogue that has begun," said Putin.
"We
need to be aware of this and use all possibilities when it comes to
diplomacy and our intelligence services to disrupt such attempts."
He
did not spell out who he had in mind. But his comments looked like a
reference to the European Union and Britain, which have raised concerns
about the prospect of any Russia-U.S. talks to end the war in Ukraine
that do not have Kyiv and the EU at the negotiating table and are too
soft on Moscow.
[...] Putin, who said he still hoped it would be possible to create what he
called a more balanced European and global security system, said he
believed that the West itself was now in the midst of a serious crisis.
'Europe refuses to see that Vladimir Putin is in fact waging a war against it and against the West'
In
response to the totalitarian pressure exerted on Europe by the Russian
president, Karl Schlögel, winner of the 2024 Jacques Delors European
Book Prize, reminds us in an op-ed for Le Monde, of the European
identity of Ukraine, and sounds the alarm about a return of the
'kidnapped West' evoked by Milan Kundera.
Flash News: Ukraine Intercepts Russian Kh-59 Cruise Missile Using US VAMPIRE Air Defense System Mounted on Boat. Ukrainian forces have made ...
