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CLEVELAND, Ohio—The first phase of the Golden Dome air and missile defense program focuses on deterring a strike aimed at killing U.S. leadership and a limited attack by a rogue nation against the homeland, Gen. Michael Guetlein said in remarks to the Ohio Space Forum on Sept. 17.
In his live remarks delivered virtually to the audience here, Guetlein spelled out the first details of the program’s two-phase approach to delivering capabilities. The first phase, which he called Epic 1, will be delivered in 2028. Epic 2 will follow by 2035 with the full capabilities of the Golden Dome architecture.
A key to delivering Epic 1 within the next 27 months is repackaging existing capabilities to defeat a decapitation strike or an attack by a rogue nation with a limited stockpile of nuclear warheads.
“In order to rapidly change the homeland defense equation in 2028, I need to take a lot of what we already have in that exploit-buy-build ... mentality and get it into the field to deter a coercive decapitation or rogue nation attack against the homeland,” Guetlein said.
The remarks reveal Golden Dome's initial focus on decapitation strikes and rogue nation threats. Decapitation strike defense protects relatively small areas around the U.S. president, Capitol and select National Command Authority elements, Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Aviation Week. The focus on rogue state threats implies a defensive shield against an attack by fewer than 10 intercontinental ballistic missiles, Harrison said.
“So that means what [Guetlein] is aiming for in 2028 is quite modest,” Harrison said.
The U.S. already operates 44 Boeing ground-based interceptors in Alaska to defend against a rogue nation attack, he said.
A ring of air and missile defense batteries around Washington—including Lockheed Martin Patriots and Theater High Altitude Area Defense systems—could be enough to constitute a defense against a decapitation strike, Harrison added.
A Golden Dome program spokesperson declined to elaborate on Guetlein’s description of the Epic 1 plan.
“We are focused on protecting operational security and do not want to cede any warfighting advantages,” the spokesperson added.
The Golden Dome architecture’s Epic 2 strategy will introduce a new batch of capabilities based on advanced technologies that are not immediately available, Guetlein said.
“Coming out of 2028, then we need to start bringing to bear all next-generation technologies,” he said. “That means directed energy, next-generation communications and sensing, and quantum.”
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