Washington, D.C., United States: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled the country’s plan for an innovative missile defense system known as the ‘Golden Dome’, that will integrate with existing ground-based defense capabilities, competent of neutralising attacks from the ground, in space or anywhere in the world.

The futuristic defense system would be the first US weapon in space, and the project will be completed by the end of Trump’s term. It aims to neutralise threats, including aerial threats against the US from Russia and China. The system is reportedly capable of intercepting missiles and rockets in midair.

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The program is set to cost a whopping $175 billion, and the President has assigned the task to US Space Force General Michael Guetlein to materialise the project withing the stipulated timeframe.

During a press conference at the White House, Trump said that the new system would protect the US, adding that Canada has also shown interest in being part of the program. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said he and his ministers were discussing a new security and economic relationship with the US.

What is the Golden Dome System? 

Partly inspired by Israel’s land-based Iron Dome, which the Jewish nation has been using to intercept rockets and missiles for long, the US’s futuristic missile shield has the involvement of Trump’s advisor and billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a frontrunner to develop key components of the system.

Trump has called the Golden Dome a next-generation technology across land, sea and space that has space-based sensors and interceptors. The system will be able to detect, track and stop missiles at multiple stages of flight, potentially destroying them before takeoff or intercepting them in midair.

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As per Trumps claim, the Golden Dome can intercept missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space. The project would be in operation in about three years, according to the President.

Notably, countries such as Russia and China have expressed concerns over the US’s Golden Dome, calling the program deeply destabilising while terming the move as turning even space into a battlefield.