Russia on Friday, January 31, condemned President Donald Trump’s plan to develop a missile shield reminiscent of the “Star Wars” initiative, warning that it could turn space into a battlefield.
Trump’s executive order on Monday, January 27, called for the creation of an “Iron Dome for America” to address ballistic and hypersonic missile threats, reviving elements of the Reagan-era “Star Wars” program that proposed deploying missile interceptors in space.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized the plan during a briefing, stating, “We regard this as yet another confirmation of the US intent to turn space into an arena of armed confrontation and to deploy weapons there.” She likened the scale of Trump’s proposal to the original “Star Wars” program, which she described as “odious.”
Zakharova accused the United States of aiming to undermine the strategic deterrence capabilities of both Russia and China. “To put it mildly, these US approaches will not contribute to reducing tensions,” she said.
The executive order’s reference to an “Iron Dome” draws from Israel’s missile defence system, which is highly effective at intercepting short-range rockets. However, the missile threats facing the United States are significantly different and more advanced than those addressed by Israel’s system.
Russia has been advancing its own missile technology, with President Vladimir Putin unveiling the hypersonic missile “Oreshnik” last year, capable of flying at speeds ten times the speed of sound. Meanwhile, the United States highlighted in its 2022 National Defense Strategy that China is narrowing the gap in ballistic and hypersonic missile capabilities.
The rivalry over space militarization has intensified, with Moscow and Washington accusing each other of weaponizing space. Last May, the United States accused Russia of deploying a “space weapon” in the same orbit as a US satellite.
