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Golden Dome

During his 04 March Joint Address to Congress, President Trump announced his plan for "Congress to fund a state-of-the-art Golden Dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland, all made in the USA."

With little information or details made available, the Golden Dome initiative called for something similar to Israel's own "Iron Dome" defense system, which is designed to protect against inbound missile attacks.

On 18 March 2025, Steven J. Morani, performing the duties of undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, at the McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington, said the challenge would be formidable and require a lot of teamwork. "This is like the monster systems engineering problem. This is the monster integration problem," he said. "This is going to be layers of architecture working together at all group level elevations ... to protect the United States ... so we're going to need all the services and agencies that do this kind of work to step up."

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) issued a Request For Information statting that it was conducting market research to assist in the identification of innovative missile defense technologies (system-level, component level, and upgrades), architectures, concepts, and Concept of Operations (CONOPS) to detect and defeat the threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks.

MDA desires to collaborate with Industry on potential concepts to deploy and maintain a next-generation missile defense shield that will deter and defend its citizens and critical infrastructure against any foreign aerial attack on the Homeland and guarantee its secure second-strike capability. The concepts can include new system-level capabilities, component concepts, upgrades to existing capabilities, or new CONOPS across the kill chain. MDA anticipates responses from small and large businesses, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, University Affiliated Research Centers, Academia, and Non-traditional Defense Contractors.

Lines of Effort Include:
• Defense of the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks from peer, near-peer, and rogue adversaries;
• Acceleration of the deployment of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor layer;
• Development and deployment of proliferated space-based interceptors capable of boost-phase intercept;
• Deployment of underlayer and terminal-phase intercept capabilities postured to defeat a countervalue attack;
• Development and deployment of a custody layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture;
• Development and deployment of capabilities to defeat missile attacks prior to launch and in the boost phase;
• Development and deployment of a secure supply chain for all components with next-generation security and resilience features; and
• Development and deployment of non-kinetic capabilities to augment the kinetic defeat of ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks

MDA intends to explore possible solutions and capabilities against threat classes or specific threats identified by the Government during the Industry Day (See Section 6.0).

MDA has established multiple time epochs for delivery or demonstrations of capabilities. MDA requests Industry to tie each capability with a time epoch. The time epochs defined for this RFI are:

• Epoch 1 – Capabilities delivered or demonstrated NLT 31 Dec 2026
• Epoch 2 – Capabilities delivered or demonstrated NLT 31 Dec 2028
• Epoch 3 – Capabilities delivered or demonstrated NLT 31 Dec 2030
• Epoch 4 – Capabilities delivered or demonstrated beyond 31 Dec 2030

This RFI also is intended to help MDA make informed decisions and business case analyses to:

• Understand the current marketplace and existing industry capabilities to fulfill the accelerated delivery and demonstration timeline;
• Obtain recommendations from industry on acquisition strategies to enable delivery and demonstration timelines described above;
• Identify the major technical and programmatic risks;
• Determine industry data and information needs to support accelerated delivery and demonstration timelines

The Government will use the technical submissions to support capability forecasts, enable technology program planning, inform phased implementation planning, accelerate prototyping, and support an overarching research and development investment strategy.

Defense One reported on 27 March 2025 that more than 360 responses to the DOD RFI had been submitted with companies such as Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, Boeing and RTX Corp. in contention.

For instance, Booz Allen Hamilton proposal consists of its "Brillian Swarms" concept of a networked constellation of 1,000+ satellites with a peer-to-peer network powered by advanced AI and machine learning technologies to intercept missile threats early. These satellites would operate in 20 orbital planes at an altitude of 300-600 kilometers. The proposal would call for Brilliant Swarms to deliver a multi-shot capability to defeat missile launches during the boost-ascent and early mid-course phases of flight. This network of low-Earth orbit satellites would work together, operating autonomously to detect, track, and intercept ballistic missiles just minutes after launch, neutralizing the threat before warheads deploy—and with a much higher probability of success. 

On 13 May 2025, the US Defense Intelligence Agency released unclassified assessment titled "Golden Dome for America: Current and Future Missile Threats to the U.S. Homeland" to depict threats a sophisticated missile defense system for the United States would defend against and represented the agency's unclassified intelligence on adversary missile threats and capabilities.

On 20 May 2025, President Trump made an announcement regarding the United States' next-generation missile defense shield, Golden Dome for America. Secretary of Defense Hegseth stated that accordingly, the Department of Defense "has developed a draft architecture and implementation plan for a Golden Dome system of systems that will protect our homeland from a wide range of global missile threats". Moreover, the Golden Dome " will include space-based interceptors and sensors. Some U.S. technology in space such as space-based sensors and air and missile defense exist today, but all of the systems comprising the Golden Dome architecture will need to be seamlessly integrated. Golden Dome will be fielded in phases, prioritizing defense where the threat is greatest."

The DoD is working with the Office of Management and Budget to develop a plan to fund recommended capabilities arising from the President's directive, allowing sufficient time for consideration by the President before finalization of the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY 2026) Budget. Hegseth stated that DoD "is working with Congress to secure $25B of funding in the One Big Beautiful reconciliation bill for critical capabilities necessary to ensure the protection of the U.S. homeland from the aerial threats of today and tomorrow. The United States will continue to enhance its existing capabilities to provide a thorough layered defense for its homeland. [Trump's] EO does not represent an abandonment of existing ground, sea, and air-based kinetic defenses focused on missile interception in the midcourse or terminal phases of flight. Golden Dome is being designed in close coordination with NORAD, USNORTHCOM, USSPACECOM, and other DoD stakeholders to ensure full interoperability and real-time integration with our existing defense architecture."