Overview

• The Missile Defense Agency released a request for proposals under the SHIELD umbrella, initiating a ten-year, $151 billion competition to supply the space-based interceptor network.
• Under Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Competition in Contracting Act, startups face steep barriers in facility clearances, IT security and compliance that favor established primes.
• Historian William R. Forstchen and other experts underscore Golden Dome’s unique capacity to intercept high-altitude EMP-armed warheads before they can blackout 80% of the U.S. power grid.
• A Congressional Budget Office analysis projects 20-year program costs between $161 billion and $831 billion, far above President Trump’s $175 billion estimate.
• China’s Foreign Ministry asserts the system violates the Outer Space Treaty by weaponizing orbit, an allegation U.S. officials reject.