Trump’s Golden Dome has again come under fire from Russia, and also from the Congressional Budget Office, which is being stonewalled with regard to its nature and costs. Speaking at a plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva, warned that the project encompasses space-based interceptors, orbital systems to track ballistic missile and hypersonic launches, and systems to destroy missiles before launch and in the boost phase. “Essentially, we’re talking about creating a powerful force potential in near-Earth orbit, including, despite the declared defensive nature of the program, offensive strike capabilities,” Gatilov said.
Gatilov wasn’t the only one who was having problems with this humongous and highly secretive project. The Congressional Budget Office which is responsible for informing Congress of the cost of things they are financing is also having trouble finding any information with regard to the program. CBO National Security Directorate head David Mosher stated this during an event at the Brookings Institution on August 19. “We have, to date, not been able to talk to the Golden Dome Office,” he said. “We’ve asked them for briefings, and we have not gotten any. They’ve not been willing to do so. So, I know nothing about what they’re actually building.”