India successfully tested its multi-layered ballistic missile defence system on June 10-11, demonstrating the capability to intercept long and medium-range missiles. This achievement places India among a select group of nations with such advanced defence technology.
India is enhancing its air defence capabilities with the "Sudarshan Chakra" project, a multi-layered architecture to counter ballistic missiles and aerial threats from China and Pakistan. Recent successful tests of its Ballistic Missile Defence system and deployment of Akash missile systems highlight these efforts.
Beijing and Moscow warn against US missile defence system, citing negative consequences for international security
The US 'Golden Dome' missile defence system is estimated to cost $1.2tn to develop, deploy and operate over two decades, significantly higher than initial estimates.
The estimated cost of deploying and operating the Golden Dome missile defence shield is $1.2 trillion, six times above current forecasts, and may still fail to stop an all-out attack.
Israel's Iron Dome air defence system has been deployed in the UAE for the first time outside Israel or the United States, following Iranian missile and drone attacks. Iran fired approximately 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 2,200 drones at the UAE in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes on Iran beginning February 28. While most projectiles were intercepted, some struck military and civilian targets.
A senior Pentagon official told Congress that the US has "no defence against hypersonic weapons or cruise missiles" as President Trump's US$185 billion Golden Dome missile shield faces continued skepticism. The space-based interceptor system, targeted for operation by January 2029, is designed to counter Chinese and Russian missile arsenals, with the price tag increasing from an initial US$175 billion estimate.
Trump's $185 billion Golden Dome missile shield faces congressional scrutiny as a senior Pentagon official admits the US currently has no defence against hypersonic or cruise missiles. The assistant secretary of defence for missile defence told a Senate hearing the shield will strengthen deterrence by denying adversaries ability to achieve objectives through coercion, specifically targeting China as the 'pacing competitor'.
