From Iran to Golden Dome: Lessons for US Missile Defense
March 17, 2025 | By Greg Hadley
AURORA, Colo.—As the Pentagon prepares to move out on President Donald Trump’s ambitious “Golden Dome” missile defense project, leaders said at the AFA Warfare Symposium this month they are looking to the recent examples of Iran’s attacks on Israel last year to understand the challenges ahead.
In April and October 2024, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and one-way attack drones at Israel. The U.S. played a key role in defeating those strikes, as the Space Force provided missile warning, and the Air Force and Navy both shot down threats.
Now, as the U.S. ponders how to build a “Golden Dome” defense shield for North America, Iran’s attacks loom large, especially given the even greater missile volumes that could be volleyed at the U.S. from more capable adversaries like China or Russia.
“What we are seeing is more proliferation,” said Col. Ernest “Bobby” Schmitt, commander of Mission Delta 4. “More countries have access to this, what I would call legacy technology, but they also are looking at getting more of it. It’s becoming cheaper to develop and build those capabilities. And so, for example, what we saw with Iran last year, they have a lot of missiles, right? But they’re mostly the legacy systems. And so what the adversaries are doing is using those legacy systems and implementing different TTPs, so using more mass and trying to time it differently.”
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/iran-golden-dome-us-missile-defense/
