Golden Dome could leave US vulnerable to drone attacks without Israeli systems

EXCLUSIVE: As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets President Donald Trump successful Washington for talks expected to halfway connected Iran and location security, a caller study is urging nan management to grow U.S.–Israel defense practice by making Israeli air-defense exertion a cardinal constituent of Golden Dome, nan planned layered rocket shield intended to detect, way and intercept ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons and drones earlier they tin onslaught nan United States.

The study warns that nan planned American rocket shield could time off U.S. cities, subject installations and captious infrastructure exposed to progressively communal drone and cruise-missile threats if Washington directs excessively overmuch money toward costly space-based systems that could return years to go operational.

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) report, titled "The Missing Shield: Acquiring Israeli Air Defenses Makes Golden Dome Sustainable," argues that nan initiative’s existent backing priorities favour strategical and space-based capabilities that could return years to create while giving insufficient attraction to much frequent, lower-altitude threats specified arsenic drones, cruise missiles and shorter-range projectiles.

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Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile strategy intercepts rockets launched from nan Gaza Strip, arsenic seen from nan metropolis of Ashkelon, Israel, Oct. 9, 2023. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)

Ari Cicurel, nan report’s author, told Fox News Digital that long-range defenses stay basal but should not travel astatine nan disbursal of systems tin of stopping threats that could scope nan United States now.

"Right now nan existent attack is spending nan clip and money chiefly connected space, agelong scope threats, which are perfectly needed," Cicurel said. "But nan astir predominant and contiguous threats are really short scope projectiles, peculiarly drones."

Cicurel pointed to caller drone activity complete American cities, including Washington, D.C., arsenic grounds that nan threat is not confined to overseas battlefields.

"We’ve seen respective drone overflights of cities, including successful Washington, D.C., complete nan past fewer months," he said. "And that’s surely nan astir predominant threat that nan U.S. needs to beryllium addressing."

The study estimates that nan Israeli-designed launchers it examined are 58% to 88% little expensive, interceptors 19% to 97% little costly and radars 32% to 87% little costly than nan U.S. systems utilized for comparison. JINSA argues those savings could let nan Pentagon to acquisition much launchers, grow interceptor stockpiles and sphere backing for costly strategical and space-based technologies.

The Pentagon told Fox News Digital that Golden Dome is being designed arsenic a layered strategy tin of addressing a wide scope of threats.

"Golden Dome for America continues to attraction its efforts connected protecting America and delivering connected President Trump’s imagination for homeland defense," a Pentagon charismatic said.

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks successful nan Oval Office aft President Trump announced his plans for nan Golden Dome. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The charismatic said nan implementation scheme remains "dynamic" and is intended to take sides against "the afloat spectrum of evolving threats," including hypersonic and ballistic missiles, precocious cruise missiles and unmanned aerial systems.

The standard of nan choices up was underscored by a May 12 Congressional Budget Office analysis. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that a notional nationalist missile-defense strategy broadly accordant pinch Trump’s executive bid could costs astir $1.2 trillion passim 20 years to develop, deploy and operate. 

The agency stressed that nan estimate was not a projection of nan Pentagon’s existent Golden Dome scheme because nan section had not released capable specifications astir its intended architecture.

The Congressional Budget Office modeled 4 interceptor layers, including a space-based layer, 2 wide-area aboveground layers and a location surface-defense layer.

The JINSA study proposes making Israeli-designed defenses a cardinal portion of those little layers. It recommends Iron Dome for short-range threats, David’s Sling for medium-range threats, Arrow for ballistic missiles and Iron Beam for lower-cost laser interception.

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TOPSHOT - This agelong vulnerability shows trails and explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel's Iron Dome rocket defence strategy complete Tel Aviv connected February 28, 2026. The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran connected February 28, pinch Israel's nationalist broadcaster reporting that nan Iranian ultimate leader had been targeted, arsenic nan Islamic republic retaliated pinch barrages of missiles astatine Gulf states and Israel. (JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

Cicurel said nan connection should not beryllium seen simply arsenic buying overseas weapons because Washington helped finance their improvement and American companies already participate successful their production.

"What we’re really talking astir is yet leveraging American taxation dollars that person gone to thief produce, thief create these Israeli systems," he said.

One 100 and 2 companies crossed 34 states participate successful producing Israeli air-defense systems.

Asked specifically whether nan Pentagon is evaluating Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow aliases Iron Beam for purchase, integration aliases expanded co-production, nan charismatic declined to say.

"We person thing caller to denote astatine this time," nan charismatic said. "Due to operational information and nan request to protect our competitory advantages, we will not supply further details."

The study besides argues that caller fighting pinch Iran demonstrated really precocious interception rates tin obscure vulnerabilities, including accelerated depletion of interceptor inventories, strained accumulation lines and attacks against radar systems anchoring protect networks.

"Both nan U.S. and nan Israeli defense business bases were not good equipped to grip nan magnitude of accumulation that either state needed," Cicurel said.

The study calls for dedicated Golden Dome backing for short- and medium-range defenses, expanded associated production, and nan inclusion of Golden Dome practice successful nan adjacent U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding. It besides recommends updating export-control and technology-sharing rules, while acknowledging challenges involving interoperability, classified information and intelligence property.

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Digitized conception creation of Golden Dome (Lockheed Martin)

Trump many times has described Golden Dome arsenic a defining homeland-defense project, saying it would create a shield tin of protecting nan United States from precocious rocket threats. Whether Israeli systems go portion of that architecture remains unclear, but Netanyahu’s sojourn gives some governments an opportunity to push nan rumor higher connected nan bilateral defense agenda.