The Donald Trump administration is preparing to launch one of the most expensive defense initiatives in U.S. history, kicking off a $151 billion procurement drive for its "Golden Dome" missile shield.
What Happened: On Friday, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said it would soon invite proposals for an "advanced, multi-domain defense system" under the project officially known as Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense, or SHIELD, reported the Financial Times.
The 10-year plan seeks to fund a sweeping array of contracts covering research and development, cybersecurity and the design and deployment of systems capable of defending against ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile threats.
Trump has pledged $175 billion toward the Golden Dome initiative, modeled loosely on Israel's Iron Dome and vowed to have it operational within three years.
Why It's Important: On the same day, Booz Allen Hamilton Corp. (NYSE:BAH) CEO Horacio Rozanski told analysts the firm "can play a variety of roles" and is "participating in the procurement process as it ramps up."
During its second-quarter earnings call on Thursday, L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LHX) also said that the company is preparing to deploy 40 to 45 Hypersonic Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites, which are vital to the Golden Dome missile defense system.
Major defense contractors—Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOX), RTX Corp. (NYSE:RTX) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT)—have also signaled interest.
While Trump's initial defense bill allocates just $25 billion toward the project, the Congressional Budget Office estimates a full-scale missile shield could cost up to $542 billion over 20 years, the report stated.
If executed, the plan could trigger a massive windfall for aerospace firms and defense startups alike, with Elon Musk's SpaceX—despite recent tensions with the administration—well-positioned to secure satellite launch contracts.
The Golden Dome project marks a dramatic expansion of U.S. homeland defense ambitions, potentially reshaping military procurement and creating new frontiers for defense technology and private-sector collaboration.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that Booz Allen Hamilton Corp is showing strong upward momentum in the short and medium term, but exhibits a downward trend over the long term. Additional performance metrics can be found here.
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