Trump wants to protect the US with the Golden Dome air defense system: It will cost $1,2 trillion, but will not withstand attacks from Russia or China.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated on May 12 that the development of US President Donald Trump's "Golden Dome" missile shield would cost approximately $1,2 trillion. The funds will be used for development, deployment, and operation, according to Reuters.

This amount significantly exceeds the $185 billion estimate previously provided by the Pentagon program manager.

The Golden Dome project envisions expanding ground-based missile defenses, including interceptors, sensors, and command and control systems, as well as adding space-based components to detect, track, and potentially destroy threats in orbit. These include advanced satellite networks and orbital weapons.

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The CBO estimated that the cost of acquiring the system alone would exceed $1 trillion, with the space-based interceptor layer—a complex of 7800 satellites—accounting for about 70% of that cost.

The system must cover the entire US territory, including Alaska and Hawaii, and be able to fully repel an attack by a regional adversary such as North Korea.

However, the CBO warned that the system could be overwhelmed by a full-scale attack from Russia or China.

"The President's Golden Dome is nothing more than a massive giveaway to defense contractors, paid for entirely by working Americans," said U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a senior member of the Senate Budget Committee.

The US Space Force has already awarded contracts worth up to $3,2 billion to 12 companies for the development of space-based missile interceptor systems. Unlike existing ground-based systems, the Space Based Interceptor (SBI) program places weapons in orbit, allowing the US military to intercept and destroy threats earlier.

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Ultimately, companies could receive lucrative SBI production contracts worth between $1,8 billion and $3,4 billion annually, the Pentagon stated in a presentation. However, the initial costs of developing the SBI are high: industry representatives expect to have to independently fund the effort, which is estimated to cost at least $200 million to $2 billion. Major defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, and Boeing, are expected to participate in the competition to build various components of the Golden Dome.

The executive order establishing the Golden Dome was signed on January 27, 2025. It set a strict deadline for the deployment of a comprehensive missile defense system across the United States by 2028.

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