Trump calls for ‘Iron Dome’ for US Homeland missile defence

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order for a “next generation” defence shield to protect the US against ballistic missiles and other long-range attack.

“The threat of attack by ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles remains a catastrophic threat facing the United States,” according to a White House document on the upcoming executive order.

It says Mr Trump will order the construction of an Iron Dome shield, comparing it to Israel’s vaunted system which was developed in coordination with the US and is designed to address threats including drones, rockets and cruise missiles.

Any US system would have to go well beyond what Israel’s Iron Dome provides. Raytheon Co, which produces Iron Dome in coordination with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, says the system’s Tamir missile downs weapons launched from a range of 4km to 70km. 

The US already has

a range of missile defence systems

in place. There are Terminal High Altitude Air Defence systems, with Aegis systems on warships and Patriot batteries and ground-based interceptors. The US systems must cover a much larger area than those of Israel, and successive presidential administrations have worked to modernise and upgrade the complex array of defences.

The President’s executive order seeks to accelerate the production and delivery of new systems to track and intercept incoming missiles, as well as defeat them before launch. The US Iron Dome executive order was first reported by CNN.

Adversaries such as China and Russia have worked to develop hypersonic weapons in recent years, as Defence Department has struggled to keep pace. According to the White House, even in the face of mounting threats, “United States homeland missile defence policy has been limited to staying ahead of rogue nation threats and accidental or unauthorised missile launches.”

According to the president, the new system “will be made all in the USA.” BLOOMBERG