The US has launched a doomsday missile test just days after President Doland Trump announced that a Golden Dome would cover the entire country.
Seemingly inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system, the president announced that the US would be getting its own version known as the Golden Dome.
Trump vowed that this system would knock all missiles out of the sky with the success rate being ‘very close to 100%’ according to the president.
Trump went on to say: “Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space, forever ending the missile threat to the American homeland.”
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While this was met with a lot of skepticism on social media, it seems like the project is full steam ahead.
On Wednesday (May 21), the US Air Force launched a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as part of a test.
The missile was unarmed but traveled 15,000 miles an hour to a test site in the Marshall Islands, according to officials.
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In a statement, General Thomas Bussiere, who is the commander of the US Global Strike Command, said: “This ICBM test launch underscores the strength of the nation’s nuclear deterrent and the readiness of the ICBM leg of the triad.”
While the test was routine, there could be more in the future when construction on the Golden Dome begins.
How much will the Golden Dome cost?
Constructing the Golden Dome across the entirety of the country will be no small feat and is expected to cost somewhere between $175 billion to $540 billion.
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Trump has said that he has settled on what the ‘architecture’ of the system will be, with officials from the Pentagon adding that the president was present with three different proposals for small, medium and large domes. It’s not yet clear which one Trump has selected.
The president has also said that he is hopeful that the defence system will be operational before he leaves office in 2029.
General Michael Guetlein from the Space Force has been tasked with overseeing Trump’s Golden Dome, although Democrats have raised eyebrows at how Elon Musk’s SpaceX could end up being involved.
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However, not everyone is concerned, with Senator Kevin Cramer saying: “The new autonomous space-age defence ecosystem is more about Silicon Valley than it is about ‘big metal'. So what’s exciting about this is it makes it available to everybody to participate, to compete.”