Golden Dome is a Trillion Dollar Gambit

A proposed U.S. homeland missile defense system, "Golden Dome," faces a fundamental misalignment between its ambitious performance goals and its stated cost and schedule. An analysis of various potential architectures shows costs ranging from $471 billion to over $3.6 trillion, depending on the scope of threats addressed. Space-based interceptors are the single largest cost driver, as providing continuous global coverage requires a massive and expensive satellite constellation. Without recalibrating expectations to match realistic requirements, the program is at risk of being built on unsustainable promises rather than sound strategic planning.