The leaders of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome program say a new “Ecosystem Hub” will make it easier for companies to pitch technology for the effort and for the government to monitor supply chain and cyber risks.
The program established the hub in April, which Golden Dome Director Gen. Michael Guetlein has called a “one-stop-shop for industry” to do business with one of the Defense Department’s largest programs.
“Really, what’s coming out of Ecosystem Hub is to start having transparent discussions, and then once we have those transparent discussions, be a creative-thinking, innovative partner and help me solve my problems,” Guetlein said during a May 14 Golden Dome conference hosted by defense technology and space publications Tectonic and Payload.
The Pentagon envisions Golden Dome as a sprawling network of command-and-control systems, sensors, and interceptors that will defend the U.S. from missile and drone attacks. The program’s architecture includes some big technological bets, like space-based interceptors and an interconnected battle management command and control systems. Leaders have also said they will lean heavily on proven technology and existing DOD platforms that can be scaled. That includes the Space Force’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor, or HBTSS, which was developed by L3Harris and the Missile Defense Agency and is being incorporated into the Space Development Agency’s Resilient Missile Warning and Missile Tracking constellation.
But even as Golden Dome leaders look to ramp up production of kit that already exists in the military services, they’re also reaching out to industry and academia for new solutions and concepts that could fit within the architecture. Guetlein said he’s met with more than 400 companies so far, and his deputy, Marcia Holmes, said she and her team are listening to ideas and providing feedback. The Ecosystem Hub will build on that work, providing a single entrypoint and vetting process for those firms.
“Our intent is to build a gateway that will provide a single point of entry for anyone that wants to come in and see the Golden Dome problem set and then provide those innovative solutions that perhaps we haven’t even thought about yet that could solve some of our problems,” Holmes said during a panel at the same event.
Holmes and Guetlein said the hub is meant to be a tool not only for companies looking to pitch solutions, but for the program to understand potential cyber vulnerabilities and supply chain constraints within the industrial base. In an April 27 House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee hearing, Guetlein told lawmakers the program has hired cybersecurity firms to look deep into companies’ supply chains to help DOD understand possible security vulnerabilities and to see where it might need to diversify its industrial base. It will also help vendors address any concerns that arise.
“We have also partnered with a red team that goes in and helps them figure out how the threats are going to manifest, how to protect and defend themselves against that threat in a very transparent and partnering type manner,” Guetlein said.
Holmes noted that once companies go through that vetting process, they can get access to some government data and some of the program’s problem sets so they can demonstrate how their products could bring value to Golden Dome.
“In that way, we can work with those non-traditionals that have new ideas, as well as our traditional defense partners that are already in the pipeline,” she said. “And we can start funding those things that actually get after the real problems that we’re having in Golden Dome.”