“I predict that what you're going to see is something that is far more… limited, both in terms of the number of threats that are feasibly able to be stopped, and also in terms of the area that [can be] defended against,” said Tom Karako with CSIS.
If the Pentagon does not start explaining Golden Dome, it will never be built, says Tom Karako of CSIS.
Standoff capability means warfighters stay connected and remain remotely located in a safer environment while making it harder for adversaries to target them.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recently suggested his service could take over the task of defending its air bases from the Army, as long as adequate funding was provided.
“Whether it is a game changer or not is debatable, but it is clearly part of a larger trend towards high speed maneuvering missiles of various types," Tom Karako, an expert at CSIS, said of the launch.
The Air Defense Artillery needs to be all that it can be. It can ill afford to maintain a single, unintegrated system as an Army of one, writes Tom Karako of CSIS.
"It is high time to adapt our air and missile defense posture, policy and programs to the near-peer and to things other than ICBMs," Tom Karako, co-author of the report, told Breaking Defense in an interview.
Onshoring and investment in military-specific semiconductors anchor a cornerstone of the defense industrial base.
The new capability should add flexibility to the Ground Based Interceptor.
"It’s ultimately a political decision, and ... this demands a strong and fully staffed OSD," said Mackenzie Eaglen, of the American Enterprise Institute. "That doesn’t seem likely until much later this year."