Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’: a shield for us or just to make Elon Musk rich?
President Donald Trump has launched a bold new initiative: a $ 175 billion “Golden Dome” missile defense system, designed by opponents such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran to mold America from long -range missile threats. Trump says it will “completely turn” by the end of his term in 2029. But some critics argue that the scheme is less about keeping Americans safe and more about rich in Trump’s colleagues, especially alone musk.In the Congress, the Republican will launch a network of initial $ 25 billion down payment-innovation, which is a network of construction, space-based interceptors and sensors on decades of missile defense efforts. Nevertheless, even before a single satellite is launched, the program has already turned into a dispute.why it matters
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Golden Dome As Trump has claimed, “100 percent protective shield”, “100 percent protective shield” promises, which will protect against everything from hypersonic missiles to drones. But reality is Murkier. Experts say that no system on Earth can firmly shoot every missile. More troublesome is that pushing to make a golden dome like a lot of missile defense programs, it, before setting a cash cow for the rescue contractors, regardless of its effectiveness. - Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, is one of the largest winners. His company is advocating the contract to create a “detention layer” of the system: thousands of satellites that will detect missile launch and potentially disrupt them as they climb through the atmosphere. The influence of Musk, the Congress’s Democrats Warning, can already shape on how the Pentagon rewards these attractive deals.
Big picture
- An old dream, new dollar: The US has been chasing a national missile shield dream for decades, Dating back to President Ronald Reagan’s 1983 “Star Wars” program. Subsequently, the idea was to use space-based lazers and interceptors to present “obsolete” atomic missiles. It never worked-but the money kept flowing. According to the nuclear budget analyst Stephen Schifan Schifan, since 1962, more than $ 531 billion missiles have been spent on defense.
- Musk starring role: Musk’s companies-Spacex, Palatir, and Enduril-Sentral Players Golden Dome Push. According to Reuters, the initial design contracts alone are expected to be brought in $ 6-10 billion. Musk’s proposed “subscription model, similar to his starlink satellites, will shut down the Pentagon in long -term payments and give musk, as Democrats warned,” Unacceptable ongoing leverage on US national security. “
- Doubt and investigation: “This is serious, serious money,” Warned by Thomas of the Royal United Services Institute. Democrats of Congress, led by late representative Garry Konoli, have demanded an investigation into a morality in the role of Musk. He wrote in a letter to the Pentagon, “It creates concern about whether the defense contract to create a golden dome is an effective way to protect Americans or an effective way to enrich Mr. Musk and other porters.”
What are they saying
- China’s Alarm Bells: Beijing called the Golden Dome plan “strong aggressive”, which can destabilize global security. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said, “The United States is obsessed in chasing the ‘US-First’ policy, seeking complete security for itself.” “It violates the principle that the security of all countries should not be compromised.”
- Fury of North Korea: Pyongyang warned that the project could do “nuclear war in space”. The North Korea’s Foreign Ministry described it as a “a very dangerous ‘threatening initiative’, which would” stimulate the safety concerns of nuclear weapons. ,
- Expert warning: “Here is a more important target preventive, not 100 percent protection,” said Ian Boad, aerospace engineer at Colorado Boulder University. Even the inspiration of Iron Dome-Tram of Israel can be overwhelmed by a large barrage of missiles. “No missile defense system would never provide 100% protection,” Boyd said.
Zoom in: Technical Challenges
- Golden Dome is a huge technical lift. This will be required:
- Hundreds of satellites have never been fully tested on a scale to launch missile launch and trajectory-transit-based sensors and interceptors.
- The new interceptor technology is many times capable of sound speed and sharp maneuvers to catch hypersonic missiles.
- Directed energy to shoot missiles in laser weapons and “boost phase”, an achievement that has never proved outside laboratory experiments.
- Even experts who believe in missile defense see the timeline as wildly optimistic. “Three years seems like a very aggressive timeline,” said Ian Boyd. “Keeping this highly complex system together is likely to take more than three years.”
between the linesCritics say that Golden Dome is less about real safety than to revive in a decades-old weapon race-inter-review. New Republic said, “Contractors and their government supporters take an old, devaluation concept, pump their value with exaggerated promises of immediate success, secure large, multi -displeasure to make it, then get even more contracts for more systems when they have not worked,” New Republic said.The Congress budget office estimates that the actual cost of the Golden Dome may be more than $ 831 billion than two decades from Trump’s launch of Trump. Thomas Roberts of the Georgia Institute of Technology said, “The challenge with statements from yesterday is that they lack the details required to develop a model of this constellation.” The Pentagon’s own missile defense review admits that the opposing buses can launch enough missiles to overwhelm the system.Musk’s participation adds another layer of anxiety. Democrats say that their “formal or informal” role in government decisions, which is also carrying forward the interests of SpaceX, violates the rules of morality and criminal prohibition against the use of a public office for private profit. So far, the administration has not shown any signs of stopping Kasturi’s lobbying.Special: Is Golden Dome a pump and dump scam to make musk to rich?Here’s how it will work: Like the classic “pump and dump” scam on Wall Street, the contractors promoted Golden Dome’s promise-nickel-defense, state-of-the-art technology, easy victory. The Congress reacts with money on a large scale. But when the systems are reduced (as they occur historically), the fix costs more, more satellites, more “upgrades”. And the original contractors-particularly musk also become rich, the New Republic Report said.SpaceX push for a “membership model”, similar to the attractive contracts of the starlink in Ukraine, may be locked in decades of payment from the panty. Democrats warned, “Shri Musk, as he allegedly did in Ukraine, may determine when the Golden Dome can be provided to the US government with access to the satellite system.”Musk’s defenders say it is about national security, not personal promotion. Trump himself has stated that Musk’s companies are important for US defense. But history suggests that missile defense efforts have always paid more attention to feeding contractors than protecting cities.
Think of it as a “pump and dump” scam, where investors buy a cheap stock, increase their value with promotional and exaggerated expectations, then enriched by selling stocks at inflated levels. Here, the contractors and their government supporters take an old, devaluation concept, pump their value with exaggerated promises of immediate success, secure large, multi -displeasure to make it, then get even more contracts for more systems when they have not worked.
An article in New Republic
What will happen nextFor now, the first $ 25 billion of Golden Dome is bound by a defense package of wide $ 150 billion. This money is still facing obstacles in the Congress. Inside the industry sources have warned that if it is not approved soon, the entire project may be delayed or reduced.Meanwhile, China, Russia and North Korea are closely watching. Kremlin indicated that the golden dome may force a re-beginning of arms control negotiations-a rare opening for diplomacy amidst a renewed fears of the race.As for musk? He is placing a low profile in Washington, but his companies are maneuvering behind the curtain to secure contracts. The Democrats’ letter demanded a moral investigation, which could be the beginning of a broad political battle at the intersection of Big Tech, Big Defense and Big Money.(With input from agencies)
