The threat to the American homeland from various types of missiles is expected to increase exponentially over the next decade, according to the director of national intelligence.
China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have all been researching and attempting to develop “an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our homeland in range,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said during Wednesday’s annual threat assessment hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Specifically, the intelligence community currently projects “threats to the homeland will expand collectively to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035,” up from “the current assessed figure of more than 3,000 missiles,” she added.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its annual threat assessment report on Wednesday in coordination with the hearing.
North Korea, the report noted, has “successfully tested” intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S. homeland, while prior to Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East, Iran had developed “space-launch vehicles that it could use to develop a military-viable ICBM by 2035 should Tehran decide to do so.”
Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile development “could include ICBMs with the range capable of striking the homeland,” Gabbard added.
Early into his second term, President Donald Trump announced his administration’s intent to build and fund what he called the Golden Dome, likening it to Israel’s Iron Dome, but more expansive and able to prevent more threats.
The Golden Dome will be a multilayered network of sensors, satellites, and interceptors — both ground and space-based – designed to detect, track, and intercept a wide array of missile threats heading for the United States
Golden Dome Director Gen. Michael Guetlein said on Tuesday that the baseline cost will be roughly $185 billion, a $10 billion increase from the figure that Trump announced last year. He also announced that Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, now known as RTX, and Northrop Grumman have joined six other firms selected to procure the equipment and technology for the Golden Dome.
“Adversaries will seek to understand U.S. plans for advanced missile defense for the homeland, almost certainly for the purposes of shaping their own missile development programs and assessing U.S. intentions regarding deterrence,” the report said. “China, Russia, and North Korea almost certainly will continue enhancing their own missiles and counterspace capabilities during the next five years.”
The U.S., its allies, and its adversaries are also simultaneously trying to mass-produce unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly known as drones, which are broadly several times cheaper than more exquisite missiles. Defending against drones poses unique challenges because they fly lower than missiles and are often more maneuverable.
PENTAGON’S ‘GOLDEN DOME’ ESTIMATE INCREASES BY $10 BILLION TO $185 BILLION
Iran has been an indirect driver of drone proliferation by giving hundreds of its one-way attack drones to Russia for it to use in the war in Ukraine. Iran went so far as to help create manufacturing plants in Russia for it to produce additional drones.
Ukraine, for its part, has had to meet the threat and come up with anti-drone defenses and figure out how to use offensive drones effectively. Now, with Iran at war and firing drones and ballistic missiles at roughly a dozen countries in the region, some of those countries have reached out to Ukraine for support.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that there are roughly 200 drone specialists currently in the Middle East and Gulf region to help.
