By Terry Lloyd, staff writer
Since the Iron Dome air defense system, or “Kippat Barzel” in Hebrew, became operational in 2011, it has effectively protected sizable portions of Israel’s population from frequent terrorist rocket attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah. The initial Iron Dome system provided short-range protection (out to forty-three miles) against small rockets and artillery shells. Since 2011, the system has evolved, along with a mix of longer-range U.S.-made THAAD missiles and Israeli David’s Sling and Arrow missiles, into the complex air defense system that protected Israel from the onslaught of missile barrages launched from Iran and Syria in October 2024.
While the Iron Dome was designed by Israeli firms Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, as well as the U.S. defense firm Raytheon, the U.S. has contributed over $2.5 billion in funding since 2011. Ironically, the effectiveness of the Iron Dome, which gave the Israeli government flexibility in its responses to terrorist rocket attacks, may have precipitated the ground-based terrorist surge from Gaza in October 2023.
With Iran now rendered militarily prostrate by the Israeli Air Force, a U.S. coup de grace of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and the final living Israeli hostages now home from their horrendous two-year ordeal, the U.S. and Israel are looking to greatly expand the Iron Dome into a system that can protect entire continents. Now referred to as the Golden Dome, Rafael, IAI, Raytheon, and now other major U.S. defense firms, including Lockheed Martin, are taking preliminary steps to develop a layered U.S. homeland missile defense.
If funding is any gauge of the intent and urgency to fully develop the anti-missile system, hundreds of billions of dollars are in the queue. For starters, $24.7 billion was allocated for the effort in the fiscal year (FY) 2026 U.S. Defense budget. The now Department of War recently issued a $151 billion solicitation for a 10-year contract under the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program. This would develop what is considered the backbone of the Golden Dome system. U.S. President Donald Trump has stated his goal is to have an operational system by the end of his term in 2028, with an estimated cost of up to $175 billion; however, there is wide speculation that an operational system would cost upwards of $500 billion.
While the price tag is staggering, there are opportunities to offset the cost. In June 2025, Japan, casting a wary eye towards communist China, expressed an interest in participating in the development of the U.S. system. Such a system deployed in Asia would ideally include coverage for South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand, with corresponding cost sharing. One would think Europe, highly vulnerable to missile attacks originating from the Middle East and Russia, would be showing a high interest in obtaining a protective system, possibly through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but has been oddly silent.
As with any new monumental military technology, geopolitical instability can result if whole continents become immune to intercontinental ballistic missile attacks. Aggressive countries that are only able to exist by posing a threat to the world’s democracies will no doubt seek new weapons technologies to endanger world peace; however, that is a consideration for a future time.
Terry Lloyd has been a freelance journalist and writer since 2019. Previously, he spent four decades in military and civil aviation and has lived and worked in Europe, Central America, and Asia.
