US Army support for Golden Dome missile shield takes shape

As the U.S. Army’s support to the joint force space mission takes shape with its newly populated Space Operations Branch , the service is also poised to support what’s expected to be a critical year for testing and development of the Golden Dome for America (GDA) missile shield project.

Speaking with reporters at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting last week, Lt. Gen. John L. Rafferty, commanding general of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, confirmed that an Army air defense unit had been “earmarked” for GDA support.

The unit, which he declined to identify, is “a well-trained organization that we know can meet the demands of Golden Dome for America when the systems are fielded,” Rafferty said.

With the current air defense systems across the joint force grouped in aggregated packages, including a sensor, an interceptor and a command-and-control package, Rafferty said he understood GDA as a way to do some disaggregation and bring together command-and-control systems into a group that can work together across the United States.

“So now, as you array sensors and interceptors and C2 platforms across the country, you can use any sensor, best shooter, right C2, in that disaggregated way,” he said. “So we believe that right now … we have the most experienced air defense and combat-seasoned air defense formations in the world [and] we have the right people with the right experience to manage the system when they get here, with some training.”

Joint Task Force Gold , a 100-person unit established in January under U.S. Northern Command and led by Army officers, is also leaning into preparation for Golden Dome with planning drills and stakeholder gatherings, said Col. Kevin “Stoney” Stonerook, deputy commander of the task force.

“We are helping put together the team of teams, all the different stakeholder communities, be that vendors and other government agencies, to really provide a cyber warfare capability for GDA,” Stonerook said. “We definitely know that we are involved in putting together some of the sites as we look at building out GDA across the country and other areas, and trying to integrate all those capabilities across the multiple layers of GDA, but there’s a lot we still have to figure out.”

The task force, he said, had hosted a series of planning “sprints” beginning in February, working with about 300 members of the “GDA stakeholder community” on-site in Colorado Springs to hash out a concept of operations for the project and to identify unanswered questions.

The next planning sprint, Stonerook said, was set for the end of October.

“We’re continuing to find out more and help focus the efforts of not just the JTF-Gold 100-plus personnel, but all the rest of the stakeholder communities to really focus on those questions needing to be answered for … operationalization,” he said.

President Donald Trump listens to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speak about the Golden Dome missile defense shield. (Jim Watson via Getty Images)

Pentagon officials have said they’re looking to field an early version of GDA by the end of next year — to meet a goal of having an operational shield by the end of President Donald Trump’s second term, with a more fully realized version of the system to be built out by 2035.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration with slow progress and inconsistent communication from the White House over the way forward with the ambitious and expensive project.

The Pentagon requested $17.5 billion for Golden Dome in fiscal 2027 through a $350 billion reconciliation package, and just about $400 million for the project in research and development funds, within the base budget request. As Air and Space Forces Magazine reported in September, dispute over passage of the reconciliation bill could leave the bulk of funding in jeopardy.

At the panel with reporters, Rafferty maintained the Army was all in on supporting development of the shield system.

“I really try to draw no distinction between [Army Space and Missile Defense Command] and JTF-Gold,” he said. “It’s going to take all of us to help enable the defense of the homeland through Golden Dome for America, and it is SMDC’s No. 1 priority to protect the homeland. So we’re all in to help to deliver that.”

随着美国陆军通过新成立的太空作战部门对联合部队太空任务的支持逐渐成形，该军种也准备支持预计将是“美国金穹顶”（GDA）导弹防御系统测试和开发的关键一年。

上周，美国陆军太空与导弹防御司令部司令约翰·L·拉弗蒂中将在美国陆军协会年会上接受记者采访时证实，陆军防空部队已被“指定”为全球防空司令部（GDA）提供支持。

拉弗蒂拒绝透露该部队的名称，但他表示，该部队“训练有素，我们知道，当系统部署到位时，它能够满足美国金穹顶的要求”。

拉弗蒂表示，鉴于目前联合部队的防空系统以聚合组件的形式组合在一起，包括传感器、拦截器和指挥控制系统，他认为 GDA 是一种进行一些拆分并将指挥控制系统整合到一个可以在美国各地协同工作的系统中的方法。

“所以现在，随着传感器、拦截器和指挥控制平台在全国各地部署，你可以以这种分散的方式使用任何传感器、最佳射手和最合适的指挥控制系统，”他说。“因此我们相信，目前……我们拥有世界上经验最丰富的防空部队和实战经验丰富的防空部队，而且我们拥有合适的人员，他们经过一些培训后，就能管理好这套系统。”

联合特遣部队“黄金部队”是一支由100人组成的部队，于1月份在美国北方司令部下成立，由陆军军官领导。该部队副指挥官凯文·“斯托尼”·斯托纳鲁克上校表示，该部队也在积极筹备“黄金穹顶”演习，包括计划演练和利益相关者会议。

斯托纳鲁克表示：“我们正在协助组建一个由多个团队组成的团队，包括所有不同的利益相关方，例如供应商和其他政府机构，以便真正为GDA提供网络战能力。我们当然知道，我们正在参与一些站点的建设，因为我们正在考虑在全国和其他地区扩展GDA，并努力将所有这些能力整合到GDA的多个层面，但我们仍然有很多问题需要解决。”

他说，工作组从 2 月份开始举办了一系列规划“冲刺”活动，与科罗拉多斯普林斯现场的约 300 名“GDA 利益相关者社区”成员合作，共同探讨该项目的运作概念，并找出尚未解答的问题。

斯托纳鲁克表示，下一次规划冲刺定于10月底举行。

他说：“我们正在继续了解更多信息，并帮助集中精力，不仅是联合特遣部队-黄金部队的100多名人员，还有所有其他利益相关方，真正集中精力解决那些需要解答的问题，以便……投入行动。”

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普正在聆听国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯就“金穹顶”导弹防御系统发表讲话。（图片来源：吉姆·沃森/盖蒂图片社）

五角大楼官员表示，他们希望在明年年底前部署 GDA 的早期版本，以实现唐纳德·特朗普总统第二个任期结束前拥有可操作的防御系统的目标，并在 2035 年前建成该系统的更完善版本。

但两党议员都对白宫在这一雄心勃勃且耗资巨大的项目推进过程中进展缓慢和沟通不畅表示不满。

五角大楼在2027财年通过一项3500亿美元的预算协调方案，申请为“金顶”项目拨款175亿美元，并在基本预算申请中仅申请了约4亿美元的研发资金。正如《空军与太空部队杂志》9月份报道的那样，围绕该预算协调法案通过的争议可能会使大部分资金面临风险。

在与记者的座谈会上，拉弗蒂坚称陆军全力支持盾牌系统的研发。

他说：“我尽量不区分陆军太空与导弹防御司令部和联合特遣部队‘黄金部队’。我们需要所有人共同努力，通过‘金顶’（美国国防军最高指挥中心）来保卫国土，而保护国土安全是陆军太空与导弹防御司令部的首要任务。所以我们全力以赴，确保这一目标的实现。”