Explainer
Trump Wants a ‘Golden Dome’ to Shield the US. Is It Even Feasible?
By all accounts, America’s missile defenses are wanting. Inspired by Israel’s example, the president has ordered huge improvements.
Illustrations by Zach Hackman for Bloomberg
Surrounded by vast oceans to the east and west and friendly neighbors to the north and south, the US has long enjoyed a high degree of protection from invasion. But since the development in the 1950s of missiles capable of crossing continents, the country has been within the reach of distant and powerful nuclear-armed foes. For decades, it has relied principally on the deterrent power of its own nuclear weapons to ward off that threat while maintaining a limited system designed to knock down missiles that might be fired by a rogue state with a small nuclear arsenal.