By Ken Bedingfield and Ed Zoiss, L3Harris Technologies
A long-feared threat became a grim reality in April of last year when Iran attacked Israel directly for the first time in history. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, Iran launched hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles into the heart of the Jewish State. Yet, in a miraculous achievement of modern technology, nearly all of the incoming barrage was detected and intercepted by Israeli and allied forces.
Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump took note of the extraordinary performance of the air and missile defense systems that defended Israel on that day. On the campaign trail, he began articulating a vision for a similar system to protect the American homeland. And now that he’s taken office, President Trump has taken a bold step to achieve his vision and deliver on his campaign promise, signing an executive order directing the building of the Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield for America.
Our company supports President Trump in setting this important goal for our nation. As the Trusted Disruptor in the defense industry, and with a portfolio of proven capabilities in countering air and missile threats, we’re ready to assist his administration in achieving this goal. We understand what it will take to build a layered missile defense architecture to detect, track and defeat incoming threats. We also recognize the regulatory and bureaucratic roadblocks that must be overcome in order to deliver this crucial new capability for our nation at the speed of relevance.
To keep our homeland safe, we need a fundamentally new approach to missile defense – one that leverages commercial business models in defense acquisition; a layered system of space-based sensors; and a robust and resilient defense industrial base with increased capacity. America’s government, defense, science and technology leaders must embrace this new approach to deliver on this national priority.
