Indiana could be at heart of production for Trump’s missile project

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — President Donald Trump announced a $25 billion down payment on his administration’s ambitious national missile defense project, the “Golden Dome,” during a Tuesday afternoon event in the Oval Office, a White House official said.

The announcement marks the first major funding step toward building a massive air and space-based missile shield designed to protect the entire U.S. homeland. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth detailed the investment, which is included in the administration’s proposed spending legislation dubbed by Trump as the “big, beautiful bill.”

While the price tag for the full system is expected to exceed $500 billion over the next 20 years, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, the White House says this initial $25 billion commitment will jumpstart development, and many of its key components will be built in Indiana.

U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., praised the president’s plan and emphasized his state’s central role in the project.

Much of the initial manufacturing and technological development will happen at facilities across Indiana, including L3Harris Technologies satellite operations in Fort Wayne, and advanced radar and sensor work at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane. The state’s robust defense manufacturing base was expected to benefit from job creation and federal investment tied to the high-tech demands of the missile defense project.

An executive order that Trump signed in January outlined a layered homeland defense program that integrates Pentagon systems with emerging technologies such as space-based sensors and hypersonic missile interceptors. Defense officials say the missile defense project initiative aims to knit these systems together under a unified software framework.

Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of the U.S. Space Force, on Monday said, “‘Golden Dome’ is not one big umbrella we buy that protects the homeland from a number of threats What ‘Golden Dome’ is doing is allowing us to do a more holistic mission analysis. … Where can we be more credible in our defense of the homeland?”

The project comes amid heightened warnings from the intelligence community about the threat of advanced missile systems from Russia and China. The Defense Intelligence Agency recently reported that both nations are developing hypersonic weapons capable of bypassing traditional U.S. missile defenses, with projections of up to 5,000 cruise missiles potentially within striking range of the U.S. by 2035.

However, Democrats and defense analysts have expressed skepticism about the cost and effectiveness of building a comprehensive national missile shield.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said at the POLITICO Security Summit last week, “I would love to be able to build a system that actually worked 100% of the time. To build a system over the entire country would be incredibly hard, and we’re not sure it’s going to work.”

Still, the Trump administration insists that the “Golden Dome” is a necessary step toward safeguarding the U.S. homeland, leveraging current technologies and infrastructure to close critical gaps in missile defense.

For Indiana, the project could translate into a new era of defense industry prominence, something Hoosier lawmakers say they’re ready to deliver.

Banks said, “This is a big moment for Indiana’s defense sector. We’re ready to build.”

He also said, “The ‘Golden Dome’ will be even bigger for your legacy, and Indiana is going to help make it. The space satellites that are made in Fort Wayne, Indiana, by L3 Harris, all the work done at Crane Navy Base in southern Indiana, is going to be a big part of it, and, Hoosiers, we’re very proud of that.”

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