Asked why we need Golden Dome, the man in charge points to a Hollywood film

""If they see how prepared we are, no one starts a nuclear war.""

"For more than 60 years, the US military has used its vast arsenal of nuclear weapons, constantly deployed on Navy submarines, at Air Force bomber bases, and in Minuteman missile fields, as a way of saying don't mess with us. In the event of a first strike against the United States, an adversary would be assured of an overwhelming nuclear response, giving rise to the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction."

"Production of A House of Dynamite, released in October, began well before President Donald Trump retook the White House and started issuing a bevy of executive orders, one of which directed the Pentagon to start work on a defense shield to protect the US homeland from missile and drone attacks. This initiative was later named Golden Dome, a twist on Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system."

A long-standing US nuclear posture relies on widely deployed submarines, bombers, and siloed missiles to guarantee an overwhelming retaliatory strike and sustain Mutual Assured Destruction. A new Pentagon initiative called Golden Dome seeks a layered homeland shield against ballistic, maneuverable hypersonic, cruise missiles, and drones. The program stems from a presidential directive and draws inspiration from Israel's Iron Dome. Proponents portray Golden Dome as necessary against evolving threats and great power competition. The system's success could alter deterrence dynamics, trigger arms-race pressures, raise questions about intercept feasibility, costs, and strategic stability with peer adversaries.

Read at Ars Technica