According to the report, acquisition costs alone for the missile defense system would exceed $1 trillion. The estimate includes funding for interceptor layers, a space-based missile warning and tracking network, research and development activities and improvements related to system integration and operational performance.
The Congressional Budget Office stated that the planned space-based interceptor layer would account for roughly 70 percent of acquisition costs and about 60 percent of the system’s total projected cost. The report described the interceptor network as one of the most significant financial components of the proposed architecture.
Mike Guetlein, director of the Office of Golden Dome for America, estimated in March that the missile defense system would cost approximately $185 billion. According to the report, the significant gap between the Pentagon’s estimate and the Congressional Budget Office projection may reflect differences in the scale and structure of the system being considered.
“The gulf between the cost estimates from Guetlein and the CBO indicate the possibility that the ‘objective architecture is more limited’ for the Pentagon’s plans for the project than the missile defense system that the CBO is accounting for,” the report stated.
The Congressional Budget Office also noted that the discrepancy could result from the United States Department of Defense expecting “significant funding from other accounts” to support portions of the programme. The report added that both explanations could apply simultaneously.
Republicans in Congress previously allocated $25 billion for the project through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by Donald Trump last July. The Pentagon is also seeking an additional $17 billion for the programme through reconciliation measures.
According to defense officials cited in the article, $750 billion of the Trump administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion fiscal year 2027 defense budget request is intended for missile defense systems, drones, artificial intelligence and expansion of the defense industrial base. The administration described the Golden Dome programme as part of a broader layered homeland defense strategy.
The fiscal year 2027 budget request stated that the Golden Dome system is intended to provide a “layered defense of the homeland” against threats from U.S. adversaries. The administration also stated that the programme would rely on “innovative program management and acquisition approaches to prudently employ taxpayer dollars.”
Despite highlighting the system’s potential capabilities, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposed missile defense network would not provide complete protection against large-scale attacks from major nuclear powers. The report stated that the system would improve existing U.S. defensive capabilities but would still face operational limitations.
According to the report, the system “would be far more capable than defenses” currently available to the United States. However, it added that the Golden Dome “would not be an impenetrable shield or be able to fully counter a large attack of the sort that Russia or China might be able to launch.”
The report also warned that the deployment of a national missile defense system could influence adversary behavior. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the system “might deter or defeat smaller raids launched by a peer adversary (possibly as part of a regional conventional conflict), but it could also prompt a peer adversary to increase the size of such raids.”
Source: CBO.
