The United States has acknowledged significant gaps in its missile defense system, warning that current capabilities are not equipped to confront advanced threats such as hypersonic cruise missiles and long-range cruise missiles.This comes at a time when Washington is moving forward with its plans to create an ambitious multi-layered defense shield called the “Golden Dome”, which aims to enhance protection against advanced threats from countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.Senior US defense and military officials, who testified before lawmakers on fiscal year 2027 budget requests, said current systems are designed for a completely different threat environment, ANI reported.“We have a very limited, single-layer ground-based defense system specifically designed against a small-scale rogue attack,” Mark Berkowitz, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, told a Senate committee.He added: “We have a very limited capability against any further ballistic missile attack, and we have no defense against hypersonic weapons or cruise missiles today.”These statements highlight growing concerns within Washington as adversaries develop “non-ballistic threats, including hypersonic cruise missiles and long-range missiles designed to endanger our homeland.”
“Gold Dome” plan to fill the gaps
To address these vulnerabilities, the United States is supporting the proposed multi-layered missile defense system called Golden Dome, which is estimated to cost between $175 billion and $185 billion.The plan, supported by President Donald Trump, aims to integrate space-based sensors, ground-based interceptors, artificial intelligence-based command systems and emerging technologies such as directed energy weapons. It is designed to counter a wide range of threats, from drones to ballistic and hypersonic missiles across the US mainland.US Space Force General Michael A. Goitlin, who oversees the program, said the threat landscape has changed dramatically. “For the first time in a generation, our nation’s margin of safety has disappeared,” he told lawmakers, adding that “today the homeland is exposed and relatively unprotected.”Officials are targeting initial operational capability by 2028.
China and Russia are among the main concerns
US officials have repeatedly highlighted China as the main strategic challenge, describing it as a “fast competitor” to the military.
They warned that Beijing’s expanding missile arsenal, especially hypersonic weapons – along with advances in cyber and electronic warfare, could threaten US infrastructure and deterrence systems.“Gold Dome will enhance deterrence by denying adversaries the ability to achieve their objectives through coercion or aggression… The cost of failing to defend our homeland will be infinitely greater,” Berkowitz said.The hearing also revealed structural weaknesses in the US defense industrial base. Director of the US Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Heath Collins, said that years of underinvestment had created a “capacity debt,” limiting the ability to increase production of interceptors.Officials stressed the need for greater “areal depth” to be able to sustain prolonged defensive operations, drawing lessons from recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where large-scale missile and drone attacks have overwhelmed air defences.The proposed funding model for the Golden Dome has also drawn criticism. Senator Angus King questioned the use of budget reconciliation, arguing that it reduces congressional oversight.“So the president has to say we’re going to do a $150 to $200 to $300 billion project, and Congress can meekly sit back and say, ‘Okay, we’ll write you a check,'” he added.Pentagon officials have defended the approach, saying faster decision-making is essential given evolving threats, but the exchange highlighted divisions in Washington over defense spending.Lawmakers also raised questions about the need for such a system, noting that deterrence during the Cold War functioned without a comprehensive missile shield.Officials responded that the security environment had changed radically, with many nuclear-armed competitors and advanced technologies, making it necessary to move beyond conventional deterrence to a combination of deterrence and active defense.