Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the āGolden Domeā missile defense project, which he claims will protect the entire country from missile attacks using a network of reconnaissance and strike satellites. According to Trump, the system should be completed by the end of his presidential term at a cost of ājustā $175 billion. However, we shouldnāt forget the long history of exorbitantly expensive U.S. failures in missile defense.
Since 1962, the U.S. has already spent over $531 billion on various missile defense systems, none of which have proven effective. To date, the only tangible result is 44 interceptors stationed at airbases in Alaska and Californiaāsystems so unreliable that the Pentagon had to sign a new $18 billion contract with Lockheed Martin to develop an entirely new replacement.
Trump claims that past missile defense efforts lacked the necessary technology, but now America possesses āsuper technologies,ā including advanced computing, miniaturization, and increased weapon lethality. Yet, these advancements are a drop in the ocean compared to the immense challenges of missile defense. A report by the American Physical Society noted that any conceivable missile defense system could be easily overwhelmed if an enemy launched a salvo of missiles instead of a single one.
Notably, SpaceX may become the frontrunner in developing the āGolden Domeā system. But how transparent is this process? A letter sent to the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Defense by U.S. Congressional Democrats raises concerns that Elon Musk may have unfairly gained access to āGolden Domeā contractsāand their worries are not unfounded. Musk previously partnered with two other companies led by Trump-supporting CEOs to lobby for early-stage contracts on the system.
At this rate, Musk stands to make billions by capitalizing on the myth of a technological solution to nuclear missilesāa solution that, so far, does not exist.
Thus, the āGolden Domeā appears less like a viable missile defense project and more like a financial scam by Trump and Musk to siphon off U.S. taxpayer money.
I get what youāre saying, but did yāall consider āNuh-uh, Musk is the smartest internet-boi ever, and these will be AI bulletsā?
If you really think about it, what does Tesla specialize in? Building cars that accidentally crash themselves and otherwise catastrophically fail in absurd ways. Imagine how easily they could crash into things and cause failures if that were their goal!!!
As a more serious solution, canāt we just rub super-cream on loyalists of this administration to give them totally real super powers and then launch them out of cannons to save us from the missiles?