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China’s Hypersonic Threat and America’s Golden Dome Defense Plan: A New Cold War in the Making
In November 2024, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made a striking statement during an interview with American podcast host Sean Ray. He claimed that China is building a military force whose primary objective is to defeat the United States. Although Hegseth had not yet officially assumed office at the time of the interview, his comments sparked serious debate across defense and intelligence communities.
Hegseth elaborated that in every war simulation involving China conducted by the Pentagon over the past 10 to 15 years, the U.S. military consistently lost to its Chinese counterpart. He attributed this worrying trend to America’s lag in developing next-generation weaponry, particularly hypersonic missiles—a field in which China has surged ahead to become the global leader.
He emphasized that China’s advancements in hypersonic technology have altered the global military balance. According to him, 15 Chinese hypersonic missiles could potentially destroy all 10 U.S. aircraft carriers—arguably the backbone of American global military dominance—within the first 20 minutes of a conflict.
The Birth of the “Golden Dome”
Fast forward to May 20, 2025: Pete Hegseth stood beside President Donald Trump at the White House, holding a placard labeled “Golden Dome for America”. The Golden Dome is a proposed multi-layered missile defense system intended to shield the U.S. from high-tech threats, especially hypersonic missiles developed by China. President Trump, expressing great enthusiasm for the project, promised it would be completed before his departure from office in January 2029. However, experts remain skeptical.
China’s Hypersonic Superiority: A Wake-Up Call
One of the most alarming events took place on July 27, 2021, when China conducted a secret hypersonic missile test that caught U.S. intelligence and the Pentagon completely off guard. The missile exhibited capabilities that, according to one insider quoted by the Financial Times, “defied the laws of physics.”
To understand the magnitude of this shock, one must first distinguish between the types of missile threats the U.S. faces:
1. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs):
These follow a predictable arc-shaped trajectory, consisting of three phases:
- Boost Phase: The missile is launched and propelled out of the atmosphere.
- Midcourse Phase: The missile coasts in space without propulsion.
- Terminal Phase: The warhead re-enters the atmosphere and heads toward the target.
While ICBMs are dangerous, the U.S. has developed countermeasures like early warning satellites and the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system that intercepts threats during the midcourse phase.
2. Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGVs):
These are game-changers. Boosted by traditional rocket systems, HGVs separate and glide toward their targets at speeds exceeding Mach 5, while retaining the ability to maneuver and change direction—making them nearly impossible to track or intercept. They combine the unpredictability of cruise missiles with the speed of ballistic ones.
3. Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS):
Even more terrifying is the FOBS technology. Unlike traditional missiles, FOBS place warheads in low Earth orbit, allowing them to strike targets from any direction—especially from the South Pole, a blind spot for most U.S. radar systems which are pointed northward toward Russia and China. In 2021, China tested a new missile combining FOBS and HGV technology, a first in military history. This “dual-tech” missile travels in orbit and deploys a hypersonic glide vehicle that re-enters the atmosphere to strike its target with high maneuverability and speed.
U.S. Strategic Response: The Golden Dome Vision
In light of these threats, President Trump initiated an ambitious missile defense plan titled “Iron Dome for America”, later renamed the “Golden Dome.” On January 27, 2025, he signed an executive order granting the Secretary of Defense 60 days to devise a comprehensive plan for a new missile defense shield.
In May 2025, the details of the Golden Dome were officially unveiled. The project is expected to cost $175 billion and be completed within 3.5 years. It is designed to defend against ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). However, the feasibility of the project remains in serious doubt.
Why the Golden Dome Faces Enormous Challenges
1. Technological Complexity:
The Golden Dome isn’t a single program but a network of perhaps 100 integrated systems. These include:
- Ground-based missile interceptors.
- Space-based sensors and interceptors.
A key innovation is the proposal to deploy two types of satellites:
- Space-Based Interceptors (SBIs): Satellites carrying missiles to destroy threats in space.
- Space-Based Sensors (SBSs): Satellites that detect and track missile launches.
This defense system aims to intercept threats during the boost phase—before they exit the atmosphere—using orbital weaponry. However, this approach is fraught with technical challenges.
2. Orbital Physics and Satellite Coverage:
Space-based interceptors orbit the Earth at high speeds, completing a revolution every 90 minutes. They can only remain above a specific target (like North Korea or China) for approximately 3.5 minutes per orbit. To ensure constant coverage, the U.S. would need to launch 25–50 satellites per orbital plane and replicate this in multiple planes—up to seven or eight—for full global coverage.
That translates to around 400 intercepting satellites just to guard against threats from one region. If extended to cover the entire U.S. border, the satellite count would balloon dramatically.
3. Cost:
Developing such a vast, space-based missile defense shield could cost hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars—especially considering the technology doesn’t yet exist. The budgeted $175 billion is considered overly optimistic.
China’s Missile Arsenal: Present and Future
According to a May 2025 report by 25 U.S. defense intelligence agencies, China’s current missile stockpile is already formidable and will grow significantly by 2035:
- ICBMs: 400 today → 700 by 2035.
- Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs): 72 → 132.
- Boosted Hypersonic Missiles: 600 → 4,000.
- FOBS Missiles: 0 → 60 by 2035.
This projected growth underscores the urgency—and the near impossibility—of creating a defense system capable of neutralizing such a vast and sophisticated arsenal.
International Reactions
Unsurprisingly, China, Russia, and North Korea have voiced strong opposition to the Golden Dome. These nations see the project not as a defensive measure but as a strategic escalation that could destabilize global military balance.
Conclusion: Defense or Delusion?
The Golden Dome represents America’s most ambitious missile defense project since the Cold War-era Strategic Defense Initiative (aka “Star Wars”). However, it may ultimately prove to be more science fiction than science fact. Technological hurdles, astronomical costs, and shifting geopolitical dynamics make the project’s successful completion uncertain at best.
What is certain, however, is this: we are entering a new era of military competition, where the race is no longer for nuclear superiority, but for dominance in hypersonic and orbital weaponry. And in this race, the stakes are nothing less than the global balance of power.
