How can Trump’s “golden dome” work, and Canada should be part of it? – My country

Canadian national security will benefit from participating in the US President Donald Trump Political experts say the “golden” missile defense plan.

But it is possible that it takes years – if not contracts – for fully executed.

“Of course you want an alliance system where you work together,” said Rob Hubert, professor of political science at Calgary University and temporary director of the Military Security Center and Strategic Studies.

“We are a small power next to the world’s largest power, and this is just part of reality.”

The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Tuesday The federal government talks with the United States on a new economic and security partnership “of course include promotion NORAD and relevant initiatives such as the Golden Dome.”

“We realize that we have the ability, if we choose that, to complete The golden dome With investments and partnership, this is something we look at and something that has been discussed at a high level, “Prime Minister Mark Carne The correspondents said Wednesday.

Trump said he announced his concept of an estimated system of $ 175 billion USD that “Canada called us and they want to be part of it,” adding that the country should “pay its fair share.”

Carney will not say on Wednesday about the amount of money that Canada will want to spend on the project, which was called one of his government looking to strengthen the national defense.

Despite tensions on trade and defensive spending within the Trump administration, experts say it is normal for Canada to play a role in a new missile defense system, given the advanced threat environment – especially in the Arctic.

It is imagined that the golden dome will include the Earth and space capabilities, including hundreds of potential satellites.

This will be able to discover and stop the missiles at all the four main stages of the potential attack: discover and destroy them before the launch, their objection in the early aviation stage, or stop them in the middle of the session, or stop them in the last minutes while they got towards the target.

The components transmitted from space alone will make the system more advanced than Iron Dome, the name used combined for the multi -layer missile defense system in Israel It was developed with support to us.

The same iron dome system specializes in dropping short -range missiles. It works alongside two other systems: the arrow, which operates outside the atmosphere and intercepts long -range missiles, and David, which aims to intercept medium -range missiles.

Israel says the missile defense system is more than 90 percent.

Last year, when Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruises, the Israeli army said 99 percent of these projectiles were intercepted.

Richard Shimoka, an older colleague at the McDonald Lorieer Institute, who studies the defense policy, said the golden dome system will need an effective percentage of a per cent, given the most interesting missiles that will be assigned to intercede.

He told Global News: “These are more size orders than IRON Dome to achieve,” he told Global News.

“Israel is a small, adjacent country – most missiles that strike Israel can travel less than 100 km.”

Shimooka continued: “(for the Golden Dome) we are talking about missiles that should reach about 4000 km, which use paths without the angle … may be nuclear missiles, so you can not only say” pardon “if you miss one, because this means that the city is stable.”

The idea of ​​the satellite defense system is due to the short -term “Star Wars” project of former US President Ronald Reagan, which was abandoned in the 1980s due to insufficient technology.

Trump said on Tuesday that he expects the system to be “operating entirely before the end of my period”, which ends in 2029, the schedule experts say it is not realistic.

“I will be surprised if you will see this by the end of the next president’s duration,” Shimoka said, citing budget restrictions and discounts that Republicans pay in Congress, but also the complexity of the proposed system.

The most likely, says Shimuoka and others, is the initial stage of the plan that can be in the early stages of operations on the road, with the full system not operating until the next decade as soon as possible.

Going now

• Do mortgage rates become cheaper? It depends on the place where you live

• Conservatives secure two additional seats after telling the narrow federal elections

Canada and the United States are already working together by the North American Air Defense Command, or NORAD, which can discover and drop missile threats such as cruise missiles.

However, Canada is not part of the United States missile defense system under the leadership of the Northern United States, which is currently with one power to shoot down these missiles.

“We are not in the room for some discussions that are very decisive to defense in North America,” Shimoka said.

Former Prime Minister Paul Martin announced in 2005 that Canada will not join the American system, which was primarily developed to confront the continental ballistic missile program (ICBM) in North Korea.

In contracts that followed, experts say the threat environment has evolved to the point where deterrence through defense is necessary.

The retired pioneer said: “The Russians and the Chinese are on the threshold of our door.” Scott Clans, former director of operations for Nourad.

“They use their bombers to deal with our airspace, use their submarines to approach our waters, go miles away from our coasts and can attack us without warning at any time.”

Pentagon has warned for years that the latest missiles developed by China and Russia are so advanced that updated counter measures are necessary.

In 2023, experts told the House of Commons of the House of Commons and the Senate that Canada should look forward to multi -layer air defense and missile systems that could intercept a variety of threats, from drones and missiles launched by submarines to space -closer weapons, and high -end rockets.

“If you can face these things, they reduce the reality of the strike that occurs primarily by deterring them.”

He added, “You must achieve a real defensive ability to achieve deterrence,” in 2005, “You have to achieve the true defensive ability to achieve deterrence.”

In March, Carney announced the purchase of a $ 6 billion radar from Australia And expanding military operations in the Arctic.

The radar system on the horizon is expected to provide early warning radar from the United States border in Canada to the Arctic, which is part of the prepaid update plan that has been announced in advance of $ 40 billion.

Last year’s defense policy is committed to an investment in integrated air defense and missile.

Experts said that these capabilities will definitely contribute to a golden dome system.

Trump said he wanted to build all the new systems that have been published in the United States

Shimuka said that Canada is likely to not want to contribute to this effort, given the costs and complexity, but it can play a role in its work.

Canadian investment in the golden dome finally helps Canada reach the NATO goal to spend at least two percent of GDP on defense, which aims to reach 2030.

“It is clearly logical, it is financially logical. It is logical to us as a safe and stable ally within the western world.”

– With files from Global’s Touria Izri and Assocated Press