The Trump administration’s recent announcement of a “Golden Dome” strategic missile defence shield to protect the US is the most ambitious such project since President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) of the 1980s.
The SDI programme – better known by its somewhat mocking nickname of “Star Wars” – sparked a heated debate over its technical feasibility. Ultimately, it would never become operational. But do we now have the technologies to realise the Golden Dome shield – or is this initiative similarly destined to be shelved?
A completed Golden Dome missile defence shield would supposedly defend the US against the full spectrum of air and missile threats, including long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and those with shorter ranges – any of which could be armed with nuclear warheads.
