WASHINGTON, 13th May, 2026 (WAM) -- The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's Golden Dome missile defense shield could cost about $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy and operate over 20 years.
The Pentagon official overseeing the project, Gen. Michael Guetlein, said in March that the programme would cost $185 billion through 2035—roughly a decade—for what he described as the system’s “objective architecture.”
The nonpartisan CBO based its projection on a January 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump, which called on the Defense Department to build an advanced, layered missile defense shield to protect the US from a range of missile threats, including hypersonic weapons.
The office said its estimate reflected “one illustrative approach rather than an estimate of a specific Administration proposal.”
The President said at the time that he wanted the system operational before the end of his term in January 2029.