The Trump administration describes hypersonic missiles as "the most catastrophic threat facing the United States". However, instead of engaging in dialogue and diplomacy with Moscow and Beijing, Washington DC keeps escalating tensions with both (often simultaneously).
On June 24, United States War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon had conducted its first major test of the "Golden Dome" strategic missile defense system. Hegseth claims to have personally supervised the test, describing it as using a supposed directed-energy weapon and what he called the Dynamic Defense Autonomous Defeat (DDAD) system. He added that it "flawlessly and autonomously cued, targeted and eliminated a multitude of incoming threats" and that the test was "executed on schedule — and dynamically defeated every threat". Hegseth concluded that the test was "real, powerful and on track".

"Today, the first milestone test of Golden Dome for America (GDA) was a full mission success — and I was honored to witness it firsthand. Cutting edge directed energy was harnessed and the Dynamic Defense Autonomous Defeat (DDAD) system flawlessly and autonomously cued, targeted, and eliminated a multitude of incoming threats. This test was executed on schedule — and dynamically defeated every threat. I watched our elite warfighters integrate with next-generation technology to stop incoming drones and cruise missiles dead in their tracks," he posted on X, adding: "Traditional Primes and emerging Primes are competing, collaborating, and winning—delivering on President Trump's priority. This historic milestone was only made possible by the One Big Beautiful Bill—giving us the funding to deliver on the ultimate shield to protect America. President Trump is making President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) vision a reality. With Golden Dome, the War Department will defend our homeland more powerfully than ever before. Golden Dome is real, powerful, and on track."

By mentioning SDI, Hegseth effectively confirmed that the "Golden Dome" project is its continuation (or, more specifically, a reboot). The Reagan-era program sparked an arms race in the 1980s, forcing Russia to respond with a plethora of its own space weapons projects, including the legendary "Polyus/Skif-DM". This Russian orbital platform was designed to destroy SDI satellites and other assets with a megawatt-class chemical gas-dynamic CO? laser named "Dreif". The system revolutionized Moscow's space capabilities, but it came at a turbulent time, as the unfortunate dismantling of the USSR halted all progress on the project.