The general leading the efforts to develop the new Golden Dome missile defense system raised concerns this week that the next phase of funding might not come through. 

Gen. Mike Guetlein spoke about Golden Dome funding during the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Ala., and pointed out that the $17 billion the Pentagon requested for the Golden Dome is facing headwinds after it was cut out of a budget reconciliation bill that stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.

“We’ve got to figure out as a nation a different way of funding Golden Dome, at least for ‘27,” Guetlein said, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine. “Both sides of the aisle, as well as the House and Senate, are working through the math about how do you do this in ‘27. I will tell you that if they don’t figure it out, there is no Golden Dome because there is no funding.”

Golden Dome has been likened to the Iron Dome that defends Israel from air attacks, but the Iron Dome covers a relatively small area. 

A similar system for the U.S. is “a monster” of an engineering and integration problem, The Gazette reported previously. 

Guetlein said this spring he expected the new system would cost $185 billion, a potential investment that could be a windfall for the large Colorado aerospace economy.

Congress has authorized $25 billion for the project. 

The next tranche of money was not included in the scaled-back reconciliation package Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth presented to the Appropriations Committee in late July. The defense portion of that bill requested $76.2 billion.

Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colorado Springs, a founding member of the Golden Dome Caucus, said he was confident Congress would find money for the project. 

“Golden Dome is a generational leap forward for the defense of our homeland,” he said in a statement to The Gazette. “I’ll keep working with my colleagues and the administration to keep us on the president’s timeline.” 

When Trump announced the project, he said he wanted it to be finished by the end of his term. A new president is slated to take office in January 2029. 

However, a timeline that’s aligned with Trump’s remaining years in office is “not a sound way to think about defense planning or procurement,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a Brookings Institution expert on U.S. military strategy and budget.

“All DOD programs are frequently reassessed and often restructured based on technological progress, perceived strategic need, cost and other factors. Why should Golden Dome be any different, especially when we haven’t really even been told what it is?” he said. 

If more money is needed for Golden Dome, it could be added into the $1.15 trillion DOD base budget proposal for 2027, he pointed out. 

For Golden Dome to persist beyond the Trump administration, it could require rebranding and revisioning, said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. 

The program’s tie to Trump could be an obstacle to the program’s longevity because of the president’s unpopularity, he said. It’s possible the program would need to be rebranded after Trump leaves office.

The planned space-based interceptors, to knock incoming missiles off their trajectories, might also need to be cut out of the project, in part, because of their cost, he explained. 

While space-based interception is technically possible, it would require hundreds of satellites in orbit, Harrison said, and would exceed the $185 billion budget. 

However, the military is already pursuing the concept. Late last year and early this year, the Space Force awarded contracts to 12 companies to work on a space-based interceptor constellation. 

It would be less expensive to field more ground and sea-based systems focused on homeland defense, Harrison said.  

Hypersonic missiles are one of the main new threats to the nation. In 2021, China tested a hypersonic missile that circled the world and hit a target. 

Done right, a new missile defense system would employ interceptors that could be deployed forward or used for homeland defense, Harrison said.

In the meantime, he expects defense contractors will be busy for at least a few years working on the projects funded by the $24 billion that’s already been approved.