The 2026 National Defense Strategy introduces a significant focus on homeland and hemispheric security, including the Golden Dome air and missile defense initiative. Concurrently, in an era marked by increasing nuclear proliferation, the role of nuclear power and the dynamics of nuclear deterrence are rapidly evolving.
Within this changing strategic landscape, what is the evolving role of Ballistic Missile Defense and Air Defense systems in a nuclear-proliferated environment? Specifically, as the U.S. military operationalizes the Golden Dome for America architecture to defend against advanced cruise missile and hypersonic threats, how do these new capabilities fit into broader deterrence strategies?
What are the resource–trade-off implications of prioritizing these Golden Dome missile defense and border security support missions over traditional “overseas contingency” force structures? Furthermore, what are the primary policy, organizational, and resourcing challenges the military must address to integrate this new point-defense mission successfully with its legacy role in strategic ballistic missile defense, and how must the services' program objective memorandums (POM) adjust their prioritization to reflect this 2026 pivot?
- Hlavin, Maj. Scott, "The Air Force's Lack of Ground-Based Air Defenses is Our Achilles' Heel," Air Force Fellows Paper, 2024, 3 pgs.
- Russell, Shawn A., "Diverging Objectives: Maintaining Strategic Stability with Russia while Expanding Global Missile Defense," ACSC paper, 2018, 89 pgs.