Space Force's 'Golden Dome': More Gold for Contractors
The US Space Force is funneling money into prototypes for 'space-based interceptors' for Trump’s 'Golden Dome missile-defense umbrella.' The system is unproven, but the contracts are very, very real. This follows a long, profitable tradition: remember the F-35 program's trillion-dollar overruns, still years from full capability? Or the 1980s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), dubbed 'Star Wars,'
which consumed billions from taxpayers while failing to deliver a functional system? The pattern is clear: public funds used for speculative, often delayed, military boondoggles. These 'secret contracts' aren't secret to the defense industry lobbyists, of course. One might wonder if the 'unproven' nature of the technology just guarantees an extended, lucrative development phase for politically
connected defense contractors. How many years, and how many billions, will pass before the 'Golden Dome' inevitably gets rebranded or quietly shelved, only to be replaced by the next shiny (and incredibly expensive) object?