Trump Signs the "Iron Dome Plan": Accelerating the Construction of the Next-Generation Missile Defense System

Key Chapter Title List

1. Purpose: The Escalating Missile Threat Facing the United States
2. Policy: A Framework for Defense for Peace Through Strength
3. Implementation: The Secretary of Defense's 60-Day Mission
4. Reference Architecture and Capability Requirements for the Next-Generation Missile Defense Shield
5. Review of Relevant Authorities and Organizations
6. Joint Submission of Funding Plan with the Office of Management and Budget
7. Collaboration with U.S. Strategic Command and Northern Command to Submit Threat Assessment and Priority Defense Sites
8. Allied and Theater Missile Defense Review
9. General Provisions: Legal and Budgetary Constraints

Document Introduction

This report provides an in-depth analysis based on Executive Order 14186, "America's Iron Dome," signed by the U.S. President on January 27, 2025. This order marks a significant shift in U.S. homeland missile defense policy, aimed at addressing the increasingly complex and severe threats posed by next-generation strategic weapons. The document explicitly states that ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks represent the most catastrophic threats facing the United States. The report reviews missile defense efforts since the Reagan administration and points out that the current policy, focused merely on staying ahead of rogue state threats and accidental or unauthorized launches, is insufficient to counter the development of next-generation delivery systems and integrated air and missile defense capabilities from peer or near-peer adversaries.

The core of the order is the establishment of a national policy aimed at achieving peace through strength. This policy explicitly declares that the United States will provide for the common defense by deploying and maintaining a next-generation missile defense shield; deter and defend against any foreign aerial attack on the U.S. homeland, protecting citizens and critical infrastructure; and ensure its secure second-strike capability. These three pillars form the cornerstone of America's future missile defense strategy, moving beyond the previous limited concept of homeland defense towards a more comprehensive and proactive defensive posture.

At the implementation level, the order sets a strict timeline and specific tasks for the Secretary of Defense. The Department of Defense must submit to the President, within 60 days, the reference architecture, capability-based requirements, and implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield. This architecture is comprehensive, covering eight key areas: defending against various advanced missile attacks, accelerating the deployment of a space-based sensor layer, developing space-based boost-phase interceptors, deploying underlayer and terminal-phase interception capabilities, developing pre-launch and boost-phase strike capabilities, ensuring a secure supply chain, and developing non-kinetic capabilities. This integrated architecture highlights America's ambition to build a multi-layered, multi-domain, comprehensive defense system combining kinetic and non-kinetic means.

Furthermore, the order requires a review of the Department of Defense's relevant authorities and organizations to ensure the necessary speed in advancing capability development; and to jointly develop a funding plan with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. The order also emphasizes collaboration with Strategic Command and Northern Command to update the strategic missile threat assessment for the homeland and identify priority sites for defending against high-value strikes from nuclear adversaries. At the alliance level, the order directs the initiation of a review of the theater missile defense posture following the submission of the reference architecture, aiming to strengthen cooperation with allies and partners in areas such as technology research and development, capability building, operational collaboration, and providing defensive capabilities for forward-deployed U.S. forces and allies. Finally, the General Provisions of the order clarify that its execution must comply with applicable laws and is subject to the availability of appropriations, and it is not intended to create any legally enforceable right or benefit.