President Trump signed an executive order (EO) on Jan. 27 that calls for the development of a new missile defense system.
The “The Iron Dome of America” executive order directs the Department of Defense (DoD) to “deploy and maintain a next-generation missile defense shield” against hypersonic weapons and other advanced aerial threats, which the order designated as “the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.”
“Over the past 40 years, rather than lessening, the threat from next-generation strategic weapons has become more intense and complex with the development by peer and near-peer adversaries of next-generation delivery systems and their own homeland integrated air and missile defense capabilities,” the EO states.
The EO gives the Secretary of Defense 60 days to submit a proposed architecture for the system.
The proposed architecture must including plans to accelerate the Missile Defense Agency’s ongoing Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor program and develop a “custody layer” within the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) . The PWSA – currently being acquired by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency – aims to deploy an internet in space that can move data from satellite to satellite, and pass information to military systems on the ground, at sea, and in flight.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the order calls for the “development and deployment of proliferated space-based interceptors” – weapons stationed in orbit to target and destroy incoming missiles. While supporters believe these interceptors could offer global coverage and early interception, critics caution that they may spark an arms race and violate existing treaties.
While nothing is yet in process on such a large scale, the Pentagon does have several air defense missions and plans in the works. The EO ordered for a review of these relevant authorities and organization that would ensure the DoD “deploy capabilities at the necessary speed to implement this directive.”
The EO also directs the DoD to incorporate these capabilities into its fiscal year 2026 budget, though it does not provide any budgetary estimates.
