Trump revives Reagan-era "Star Wars" for modern defence

The document titled "The Iron Dome for America" concerning the construction of a "next-generation missile defense shield" is currently a general directive. Signed by Donald Trump, it requires the Secretary of Defense to present the President with a plan for the defense system within 60 days.

Its task will be to protect the United States from ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, advanced cruise missiles, and other new-generation aerial attacks. The threat is to be destroyed both during the missiles' flight and their descent towards the target, as well as — significantly broadening the future system's capabilities — before launch and during the launch phase.

An element of this system will be sensors deployed in space, placed into orbit as part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) program developed since 2018, and a component known as the early warning system called HBTSS (Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor).

These solutions involve placing hundreds of satellites in space, enabling the creation of a multi-layered sensor network. Early threat detection and rapid communication aim to identify threats early enough to counteract them effectively.

Constructing such a theoretically defensive system also implies an increase in offensive capabilities. A country capable of defending against a first attack can also repel retaliatory strikes.

The space element of the defense system brings to mind the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) from over 30 years ago, a Reagan-era project. These associations are confirmed by the directive itself.

It includes a paragraph reminding us that President Reagan's attempt to build an anti-ballistic defense system led to technological advancements but was discontinued before achieving its goal.

The document also concludes that, over recent decades, the threat from strategic weapons has increased. While it doesn't explicitly mention countries perceived as unfriendly by the US, it can be interpreted as a reference to the rapid development of missile weapons in North Korea or Iran.

Among the goals of building the new system, aside from general statements about ensuring safety for "citizens, the nation, and critical infrastructure."

An important part of the document is also devoted to allies. The presidential directive clearly specifies the intention to increase the intensity of cooperation with foreign partners to improve the protection of "ally populations and troops and of forward-deployed United States troops."

The document also includes the intention to explore how the United States can enhance and expedite the delivery of missile defense capabilities to its allies and partners.

Comparing Donald Trump's plans to Ronald Reagan's Star Wars is intriguing but is based on more than just a simple resemblance to space. Trump's "Star Wars" might have more in common with Reagan's "Star Wars" than initially expected.

The SDI program is credited as one of the factors that forced the USSR into a costly arms race, leading to its collapse and securing America's global hegemony for the following 30 years.

The success of the "Iron Dome for America," especially its space component, could once again give the US an edge, reducing the risk of America suffering severe losses from attacks carried out with strategic weapons.

The development of such capabilities can also be seen as an attempt by Washington to impose confrontation on US rivals, like China, in a domain where America still has an advantage.

This results from the ability to quickly build and rebuild space infrastructure. The first issue is ensured by radically lowering the cost of launching payloads into space, made partly possible due to SpaceX's successes. China, building its Qianfan satellite constellation or GuoWang, is also dynamically, although not without challenges, developing its capabilities in this area.

At the same time, American missions like Victus Nox have demonstrated the possibility of shortening the preparation time for space flights from months to just over a day. During a test launch, a satellite was placed in orbit just 27 hours after the decision was made. Washington can therefore not only launch hundreds of satellites into orbit but, if they are destroyed, can quickly rebuild its space capabilities, which currently gives it an advantage over global rivals.