MDA previews $151B contract for Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense system

The Missile Defense Agency has kicked off the acquisition for one of the Trump Administration’s biggest priorities – the development of a nationwide system for protecting the U.S. from missile attacks.

Known as the Golden Dome, President Trump has declared that it will be operational before the end of his term in 2028.

MDA's presolicitation notice posted Wednesday describes a 10-year, $151 billion multiple-award contract formally named Scalable Homeland Enterprise Layered Defense, or SHIELD.

The agency plans to release a draft solicitation for SHIELD by Friday and then the final request for proposals in June.

SHIELD is set up to allow for multiple contract types and will cover a variety of NAICS codes to give MDA, and the entire military, flexibility in the development of Golden Dome.

The system must counter ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks across all flight phases. MDA wants advanced, multi-domain defense systems capable of protecting the U.S. homeland, deployed forces, and allies against increasingly sophisticated threats.

The breadth of work can be broken out into several buckets:

Research and Development Focus:

• Science and technology research
• Prototyping and demonstrations
• Disruptive technology development
• Architecture development and systems engineering

Engineering and Production:

• Weapon design and development
• Integration and assembly
• Production and fielding capabilities
• Hardware and software modifications

Operations and Support:

• Test and evaluation services
• Operation and sustainment
• Modernization programs
• Cybersecurity solutions

Analysis and IT Services:

• Modeling, simulation and analysis
• Data mining, collection and analysis
• RDT&E and mission-related IT services

SHIELD will emphasize the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. MDA is also emphasizing digital engineering, open systems architectures, model-based systems engineering and agile processes for the acquisition, development, fielding and sustainment functions.

Trump has appointed Gen. Michael Guetlein, Space Force's vice chief of operations, to lead the Golden Dome effort.

Guetlein told lawmakers in April that Golden Dome will require unprecedented cooperation among organizations and will combine several existing systems including ground-based Patriot missiles, THAAD interceptors, ship-fired missiles and satellites for sensors and space-based weapons.

For more on Golden Dome, check out this episode of our WT 360 podcast featuring Defense One's air and space reporter Audrey Decker.