Pentagon leaders, eager to move fast and avoid pitfalls that have plagued defense acquisition in the past, are handing authorities and oversight for some of their biggest programs to officers outside the traditional structure. But the Air Force and Space Force four-stars given those responsibilities say they don’t intend their jobs to be a permanent change to the system.
A consortium of nine defense firms building the command and control layer for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome missile defense shield recently conducted a live demonstration, and according to the program’s director Gen. Michael Guetlein, proved it’s on target to deliver an operational capability by 2028.
The Golden Dome air and missile defense shield to protect the United States will have some “operational capability” in 2028, the program’s leader said Dec. 6 at the Reagan National Defense Forum.