Golden Dome Ballistic Missile Defense Won’t Obsolete Mutually Assured Destruction

The Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system (L) intercepts rockets (R) fired by the Hamas terrorist group toward southern Israel from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip as seen in the sky above the Gaza Strip overnight on May 14, 2021. Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

We are a long way away from developing an impenetrable “Golden Dome” ballistic missile defense that is capable, with 100 percent certainty, of protecting the whole of the United States from even one intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). And one of the major reasons for this is that our testing regimes for weapon systems are inadequate and do not predict real-world effectiveness.