The development of Trump’s “Golden Dome” air defense project is in significant difficulties

However, technical disputes and internal discussions regarding the space-based components are delaying the release of billions of dollars and the progress of one of the president’s key defense projects.

According to a report in the Reuters news agency, the program has not yet used the $25 billion portion of the budget allocated to it last summer. Officials in the United States said that work on the formation of the final architecture of the missile shield is still ongoing, and that large-scale execution of the funds has not yet begun.

The money is available, and significant sums may be released in the coming days once key decisions are made, but internal debates continue. A Pentagon official said the basics of the architecture have been determined, but the specifics remain classified.

The vision of the “Golden Dome” includes the expansion of existing ground defense systems, alongside the addition of experimental elements in space designed to locate, track and even intercept incoming threats from satellite orbit. Sources in the defense industry stated that the discussions deal with classified equipment in space, with some estimates talking about anti-satellite capabilities.

So far, the US Space Force has awarded only a limited number of small-scale contracts to build prototypes, worth about $120,000 each, to companies such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. This, in the plan that President Trump stated that the final cost will reach 175 billion dollars.

Another issue that remains open concerns Greenland’s role in the initiative. President Trump recently linked American control of Danish territory to the missile defense initiative, and even claimed that the purchase of Greenland is “vital” to the project. On the other hand, security experts point out that existing agreements already allow extensive American military activity on the island.

As published in Reuters, an American official clarified that Greenland is not part of the proposed architecture of the “Golden Dome”. Experts estimate that in light of the delays in the security examinations and the approval of the complex plans, the chance of completing the project in full by 2028 is quite low.