US ending MAD doctrine to build an Iron Dome air defense system
Newly approved Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced that President Donald Trump will issue a number of executive orders for US defense, including the creation of an Iron Dome system “like the one used by Israel to deflect incoming missiles.”
With hypersonic threats starting to multiply, the old mutually assured destruction (MAD) doctrine will no longer work to prevent a first strike, and the US could be subjected to devastating and fatal nuclear ballistic missile attack.
The US does not have a fully integrated air defense system for the continental United States. And it does not yet have a system that can intercept the emerging threat of hypersonic ballistic missiles and delivery systems including hypersonic glide vehicles.
The US has almost no full time air defense on the East Coast, nothing in the center of the United States, and nothing along the Caribbean Sea.
It is important to distinguish between what Israel calls Iron Dome and what Trump has in mind.
In Israel Iron Dome (Kippat Barzel) refers to the air defense system that was developed initially to deal with short range missiles fired into Israeli territory from Gaza.
In Trump’s usage, Iron Dome refers to an integrated air defense system that can protect the United States from missile attack.
Today Israel has an integrated air defense system that includes Iron Dome,Iron Beam, David’s Sling, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 plus long range radars. Israel’s system includes a capability to intercept ballistic missiles in the exoatmosphere and, possibly, beyond. Israel is also working on a new version of the Arrow system in partnership with the US, called Arrow 4. (Israel air defenses have also beenintegrated with US radars.)
The Israeli air defense shield was partly