Trump Orders the Development of a New Missile Defense System for the US

On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order to build a major new missile defense system for the United States, a project that would have a huge price tag and likely fuel a new arms race.

Trump has dubbed the plan “the Iron Dome for America,” likening it to Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. But Israel’s Iron Dome is designed to intercept crude, short-range rockets, and Trump envisions a system that can down the most advanced missiles in the world.

The order directs Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to submit a plan for a “next-generation missile defense shield” that can defend the US “against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks from peer, near-peer, and rogue adversaries.”