Will the American “iron dome” see the light of day? The anti-missile shield of President Donald Trump is still only in the draft state that he is already castigated by Moscow, who sees it as a plan “comparable to the star war” supported by Ronald Reagan during the war cold.
“We consider that this is a new confirmation of the intention of the United States to make space an armed confrontation arena and to deploy weapons there,” said Maria Zakharova, the door -Man of Russian diplomacy, during a press point. “Remember the strategic defense initiative ‘,” she said, calling “odious” this plan desired by American president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
This anti-missile defense project, nicknamed “Star War” in reference to the famous film trilogy, was intended to protect the United States from a potential strategic nuclear strike by deploying in particular orbit around the earth. It had been made public in 1983, in the midst of a space race and the armament between the USSR and the United States, in the context of the Cold War.
Protect the United States from intercontinental nuclear missiles
The plan announced Tuesday by Donald Trump “explicitly aims to devalue the strategic deterrent capacities of Russia and China,” Allies denouncing American hegemony, Maria Zakharova told journalists. “In other words, these American approaches will not help reduce tensions,” she said.
The expression “iron dome” used by Donald Trump refers to one of the defense systems of Israel, which protects the country from missile, rockets and drones attacks. The plan of the American president is however even more ambitious, because it would also be a question of also protecting the United States from intercontinental nuclear missiles which would therefore imply military means in orbit. Russia is also suspected by its Western adversaries to want to deploy armament systems in space. In May 2024, the United States accused Russia of deploying a “space weapon” on the same orbit as an American satellite.