In a move that could be described as 'bringing the mountain to Muhammad,' or more accurately, 'bringing the general to the senators,' Gen. Michael Guetlein took the Pentagon's Golden Dome sales pitch to North Dakota on Aug. 20, headlining an event hosted by two of the program's most enthusiastic Senate cheerleaders.
'"The main reason I wanted General Guetlein to come out here and do this is I want to socialize the knowledge about Golden Dome,"' said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.), who, along with fellow North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven, organized the gathering at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Because nothing says 'bipartisan support' like a photo op in a presidential library three months before midterms.
Cramer, ever the pragmatist, argues that current U.S. missile defenses are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine against the range of threats facing the homeland. He's also positioning North Dakota's military infrastructure, including the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System (PARCS) at Cavalier Space Force Station, for a starring role in the Golden Dome architecture. Because if there's one thing North Dakota needs, it's more missiles flying overhead.
For those not in the know, Golden Dome is the Trump administration's proposed layered system to defend the U.S. against everything from ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles to drones and other aerial threats. The plan is to stitch together sensors and interceptors across land, sea, air, and space under a common command-and-control network. Think of it as the world's most expensive game of Tetris.
Cramer is trying to dispel the 'misconception' that Golden Dome is 'all new stuff.' Much of it involves connecting and expanding existing or in-development missile defense systems, with new capabilities to fill gaps. Guetlein similarly describes it as a 'system of systems,' because apparently 'soup of the day' was taken.
Congress generously provided $22.5 billion for Golden Dome in 2026 through budget reconciliation, but the next funding installment is as uncertain as a weather forecast in April. This puts Cramer and Hoeven in the unenviable position of making the public case for sustaining the effort as lawmakers gear up for another budget donnybrook.
Guetlein, never one to undersell, offered an expansive account of the threats Golden Dome is designed to counter. We're not just talking about nuclear-armed ICBMs here. Oh no. The system is being developed to counter conventionally armed ICBMs, ballistic missiles launched from aircraft and submarines, larger drones, low-flying cruise missiles, maneuvering hypersonic weapons, and even fractional orbital bombardment systems that could approach the U.S. from unexpected directions. Because apparently, threats now come from every angle except maybe from under the bed.
In a moment of transparency, Guetlein provided new details about a recent integrated missile defense test. About three or four weeks ago, Golden Dome took hardware representing elements of the architecture into a test and 'shot down everything that we put in the air in a matter of 34 minutes.' He didn't identify the weapons or targets, but the exercise demonstrated that capabilities being purchased with initial funding would be effective. So, there's that.
Guetlein also cast Golden Dome as an effort to give U.S. leaders more options than just 'strike back' or 'nuke 'em.' The current posture, he argues, leaves policymakers choosing between conventional strikes and nuclear retaliation. Golden Dome adds the ability to defend U.S. territory against a large conventional attack, broadening the program's rationale beyond just nuclear missile defense. Because sometimes you want to say, 'No, thank you' to an attack without having to blow up the planet.
Addressing critics who say Golden Dome has made little progress since Trump signed the executive order in January 2025, Guetlein pointed out that the program office wasn't established until July of that year. So, the effort has been running for only about 12 months. In that time, it has turned its initial funding into contracts, with roughly 90% of the $22.5 billion already obligated.
'We're kind of leading the department in our ability to get things on contract,' Guetlein said, presumably with a straight face. 'We have radars on contract. We have space-based interceptors on contract. We have interceptors on contract. We have sites on contract.'
So, the contracts are signed, the threats are enumerated, and the senators are socializing. Now, if only they could figure out how to pay for it all.