The United States Senate, in a voice vote July 17, confirmed Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein to lead President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome for America missile defense program, one of the most complex and expensive defense projects in Pentagon history. As program manager, he will develop the Golden Dome’s portfolio of capabilities and execute its planned architecture.
The Golden Dome project envisions a network of space-based missiles launched from satellites to intercept ballistic, cruise, hypersonic and next-generation missiles. The timeline set by Trump is three years. The U.S. has estimated the cost at $175 billion; the Congressional Budget Office says the price could range from $161 billion to $542 billion, depending on many factors.
All branches of the U.S. military will play a role in creating the Golden Dome. The Space Force will provide missile warning and tracking satellites and possibly deploy space-based interceptors to destroy enemy missiles in their initial stages. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Missile Defense Agency will contribute with radar networks and interceptors. The Office of Golden Dome for America also will form partnerships with academia, industry, national labs and other U.S. government agencies to develop the architecture and rapidly field defensive capabilities.
Guetlein, who has been the vice chief of space operations at U.S. Space Force, will report directly to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg in his new position. Lt. Gen. Shawn N. Bratton has been nominated to succeed Guetlein as vice chief of Space Force.
“I firmly believe that the technology that we need to deliver Golden Dome exists today,” Guetlein said at a Space Foundation conference July 22. “It has just never been brought to bear on this problem set to protect the homeland, nor has it been brought to bear on this form factor.”
In the fireside chat with retired Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. Raymond at the Space Foundation’s Innovate Space: Global Economic Summit, Guetlein said he had been given 60 days to come up with the Golden Dome’s architecture. In his first days on the job, he said a top priority will be to devise the proper command and control structure as he integrates capabilities and knowledge from various services and agencies.
“The president gave us three years to deliver this capability, and we’re going to deliver in three years,” he said. “That means we need to move out with a sense of urgency and move out with incremental wins along the way to make sure that we are on a vector to deliver.”
Guetlein acknowledged that space-based interceptors are the biggest technical challenge for Golden Dome, but he pushed back against those who say they’re not technically possible. “I believe we have proven every element of the physics that we can make it work,” he said. “What we have not proven is, first, can I do it economically, and then second, can I do it at scale?” Northrop Grumman has already started ground-based testing on an interceptor.
In March, before he was nominated to lead Golden Dome, Guetlein said it would require whole-of-nation and whole-of-government coordination, like the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb during World War II. “Our adversaries have been quickly modernizing their nuclear forces, building out ballistic missiles capable of hosting multiple warheads, building out hypersonic missiles capable of attacking the United States within an hour and traveling at 6,000 miles an hour, building cruise missiles that can navigate around our radar and our defenses, building submarines that can sneak up on our shores, and, worse yet, building space weapons,” he said.