DM Monitoring
MOSCOW: The United States’ Golden Dome project undermines the foundations of strategic stability as it involves the creation of a global missile defence system, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.
The $175-billion project, proposed by US President Donald Trump, is aimed at blocking threats from China and Russia.
Trump had on May 20 said he selected a design for the $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense shield and named a Space Force general to head the programme.
He announced US Space Force General Michael Guetlein would be the lead program manager.
The project is viewed as the keystone to Trump’s military planning aimed at blocking threats from China and Russia. Golden Dome will “protect our homeland,” Trump said from the Oval Office and added that Canada had said it wanted to be part of it.
The office of Prime Minister Mark Carney was not immediately available for comment.
First ordered by Trump in January, Golden Dome aims to create a network of satellites to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming missiles. The shield could deploy hundreds of satellites for missile detection and tracking.
It will take years to implement, as the controversial program faces both political scrutiny and funding uncertainty.
Democratic lawmakers have voiced concern about the procurement process and the involvement of Trump ally Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has emerged as a frontrunner alongside Palantir and Anduril to build key components of the system.
The Golden Dome idea was inspired by Israel’s land-based Iron Dome defense shield that protects it from missiles and rockets.
Trump’s is much more extensive and includes a massive array of surveillance satellites and a separate fleet of attacking satellites that would shoot down offensive missiles soon after lift-off.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump once more appears to be losing patience with Vladimir Putin’s warfare in Ukraine, but it remains unclear whether he will actually toughen his stand against the Kremlin leader.
The Republican billionaire, who returned to office in January vowing to end the war “in 24 hours,” has long appeared to side with his Russian counterpart, frequently speaking of him with gushing admiration.
Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile has been a frequent target of Trump’s ire, as seen with the spectacular dressing down of the Ukrainian leader in a tense Oval Office meeting in March.
But the US president has in recent weeks shown growing frustration with Putin’s position in deadlocked truce negotiations with Kyiv.
And in statements made on Sunday, Trump, who is facing increasing calls from Republican lawmakers to take a tougher stance against Putin, seemed to change his tone.
After Moscow unleashed a particularly deadly barrage of drones against its western neighbor, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he believed Putin “wants ALL of Ukraine”.
Pursuing such a goal, he warned in a rare rebuke of the Russian leader, “will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
