Trump orders planning for 'Iron Dome' missile shield for US
America
By
AFP
| Jan 28, 2025
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to start planning for an "Iron Dome" air defence system for the United States, like the one that Israel has used to intercept thousands of rockets.
Trump ordered the Defence Secretary to submit within 60 days an implementation plan for the "next-generation missile defence shield" designed to guard against ballistic, hypersonic and advanced cruise missiles, including by the development of space-based interceptors.
During the 2024 election campaign Trump repeatedly promised to build a version of Israel's Iron Dome system for the United States.
However, he ignored the fact that the system is designed for short-range threats, making it ill-suited to defend against intercontinental missiles that are the main danger to the United States.
The Israeli Iron Dome missile defence system (L) intercepts rockets (R) fired by the Hamas movement towards southern Israel from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip as seen in the sky above the Gaza Strip overnight on May 14, 2021. [AFP] Trump imposes 10pc tariffs on Kenyan goods Lack of written tenant-landlord agreements hampers tax collection New architects lobby president spells out agenda Edible oil processors rekindle push to scrap import duty tax Geothermal still tops Kenya's energy mix despite output decline Sudan tea export ban threatens nascent value addition hub in Mombasa Practitioners bear burden of restoring trust in property sector IM Bank opens new branch in Bungoma Kenyan coffee prices surge as NCE records Sh19.3billion in sales Coffee factories earn Sh19.3 billion from 375,843 bags at NCEREAD MORE
"Over the past 40 years, rather than lessening, the threat from next-generation strategic weapons has become more intense and complex," Monday's executive order said, citing unnamed adversaries' development of missile launch capabilities.
Trump had earlier told a Republican congressional retreat in Miami that the system would be built in the United States.
Israel has used its "Iron Dome" system to shoot down rockets fired by its regional foes Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon during the war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
"They knock down just about every one of them," Trump said at the Miami meeting. "So I think the United States is entitled to that."
The president signed several other orders related to the US military on Monday, including one setting the path for transgender people to be banned from the armed forces.