Washington’s byzantine bureaucracy could be the ultimate roadblock to President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome project, several defense experts told Axios on Wednesday.
The Golden Dome project, a massive defense project intended to defend the mainland U.S. from incoming missiles, is projected to cost at least $175 billion and require help from a number of top defense contractors to quickly build in just three years. However, the defense industrial complex is known for its complexity and slow-moving nature, and Trump’s flagship defense project will likely have to overcome a brick wall of red tape and slow-moving offices, experts told Axios.
“I think there’s been a lot of discussion about the capability … and there’s been little discussion about the organization and the authorities to get stuff done,” Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Axios.
In order to complete the project, numerous offices and entities within the federal government will have to sign off on all proposals related to the project, a reality that could cause problems for Trump’s ambitious three-year timeline, according to Axios.
The Golden Dome — which has drawn comparisons to the Israeli ‘Iron Dome‘ missile defense system — is envisioned to utilize ground, sea and space-based applications to intercept missiles targeting the American homeland. So far, L3 Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies and Elon Musk’s SpaceX have been floated as potential contractors for the project.
Countries hostile to the U.S. criticized the project after Trump detailed his plans earlier in May, with China calling the undertaking a “serious concern” and North Korea stating that the Golden Dome risks “space nuclear war,” according to the BBC.
Defense contractors are often plagued by persistent delays and cost overruns, outcomes that are commonly attributed to the relatively small number of companies capable of absorbing the high up-front costs associated with developing complex products. Additionally, it takes approximately 18 months of planning before the Pentagon awards a contractor its first deal, according to the Department of Defense.
Apex, a satellite bus maker, has reportedly already invested a large sum of money into research and development for the project, according to Axios.
“There are so many pieces … and they all need to talk,” Apex CEO Ian Cinnamon told Axios. “They all need to listen. They all need to be able to do that within milliseconds.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has expressed interest in aiding the creation of the system in exchange for benefiting from its protection, and Trump wrote in a Tuesday post to Truth Social that Canada can either pay a $61 billion price tag or get it for free if the country joins the U.S. as the 51st state.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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