Trump’s Golden Dome will combat China’s ‘hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles’

Trump, a Republican president known for his fixation on outsize military programmes, proposed last year that the US build a space-based missile defence interceptor system and have it operational before the end of his second term in January 2029.

The plan was initially priced at US$175 billion through 2035, but the US Space Force increased the estimate by another US$10 billion last month.

“We have no defence against hypersonic weapons or cruise missiles today, [or] advanced cruise missiles,” Berkowitz said, when pressed on the urgency of the controversial project.