The 12-Day War between Israel and Iran illustrated the necessity and weaknesses of modern missile defense systems, and one expert believes that President Donald Trump‘s “Golden Dome” project could be the United States’s ace in the hole.

William R. Forstchen is an author and professor of history at Montreat College in North Carolina. Among his areas of expertise are threats posed by electromagnetic pulse weapons, a type of weapon that could grind the U.S. to a halt.