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The Golden Dome is the name of a fighter in Tony Wong’s popular 90s comic Dewata Raya. It can ward off attacks from Mr. Muscle, the Bones and President William Gates. This Hong Kong comic fiction became a reality after President Trump announced the Golden Dome project yesterday to protect the United States from Russian and Chinese attacks.
The Golden Dome defense system will cost $175 billion (~RM 744 billion) with Trump wanting it to be operational as early as 2029 before the end of his term as President. The Canadian government has also shown interest in collaborating on developing a system to detect the launch of intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles using a network of satellites in space.
In addition to intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles, the Golden Dome is also designed to repel missiles, hypersonic weapons and drones. The idea of developing this system was inspired by the Iron Dome system used by Israel.
Although Trump has said the cost of the system will reach $175 billion, analysts say the operating cost over 20 years will exceed $800 billion (~RM 3.4 trillion). This is seen as a waste when Trump is running on a ticket of reducing government waste to make America great again.
Among the companies that may receive large contracts are Palantir, Anduril, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, RTX Corp. This Golden Dome project is similar to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), better known as the Star Wars Program that President Reagan announced in 1983. SDI did not become a reality because the technology for a network of missile-detecting satellites and laser systems that could repel attacks did not yet exist 42 years ago.