By Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Pentagon official overseeing President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense effort, Steve Feinberg, was on Wednesday set to receive his first official briefing on the architecture of the complex, $175 billion plan.
The briefing is a key milestone for General Mike Guetlein, who is in charge of the day-to-day progress for Golden Dome, and signals planning, funding and development for the most ambitious defense effort launched by Trump is taking shape.
“Sept. 17, 2025 marks 60 days since Gen. Guetlein’s confirmation and the establishment of the Office of Golden Dome for America,” a Pentagon spokesperson said. “The Department of War met the deadline of initial architecture development.”
Two sources said that Guetlein had briefed Congress on Monday on Golden Dome’s goals and schedule.
According to government presentations previously reported by Reuters, the system would feature space-based sensing and targeting capabilities alongside ground-based missile interceptors, radar arrays and potentially laser systems.
The sources said Guetlein’s briefing on the architecture was not expected to include details on the number of satellites or interceptors needed for Golden Dome.
The Golden Dome initiative faces an ambitious 2028 deadline set by Trump, with the system intended to defend against ballistic, hypersonic, and advanced cruise missiles from multiple adversaries.
The proposed architecture includes four integrated layers – one satellite-based and three land-based – with a notional 11 short-range missile batteries positioned across the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii.
The next milestone is around mid-November, when Guetlein must present a full implementation plan with satellite and ground station details.
The program draws inspiration from Israel’s Iron Dome, but operates on a significantly larger geographic scale. Major defense contractors including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX and Boeing are expected to compete for various system components.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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