Pat Host
The Department of Defense is a step closer to finalizing the design of its Golden Dome missile defense shield over the U.S., a timely example of a kill web architecture that integrates warfare and intelligence capabilities across multiple domains.
U.S. Space Command said it provided Wash100 Award winner and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Golden Dome architecture suggestions for his review and approval, according to the Associated Press. President Donald Trump on Jan. 27 issued an executive order calling for a next-generation missile defense shield with an architecture, requirements and an implementation plan due in 60 days.
What is Golden Dome?
Golden Dome is similar to Israel’s Iron Dome in that it is designed to defend against short-range inbound missile attacks. Trump called on Golden Dome to protect against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles and other advanced aerial attacks from peer, near-peer and rouge adversaries.
The Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Digital Transformation Summit on April 24 is a great opportunity to learn more about modern kill webs such as Golden Dome. Hear Col. Jonathan McCall, U.S. Space Force deputy director for space and the Advanced Battle Management System cross-functional team, discuss “Advancing the Kill Web: Accelerating Multi-Domain Superiority Through Digital Transformation.” Get ahead of your competitors in the fast-paced digital transformation market. Sign up today!
Kill Web Essentials
A GovCon executive said Golden Dome is the “theoretical poster child” for a kill web. Ed Zoiss, L3Harris president for space and airborne systems, said this is because Golden Dome should leverage space sensors and satellites for target acquisition, tracking and fire control to cue land- and sea-based interceptors, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. Sensing, in the kill web, provides power and forms a foundation for a holistic understanding of a battlefield environment.
Information sharing and processing at the combat edge are a couple reasons why a kill web in the mosaic warfare context studied by the Air & Space Forces Association is supposed to provide an advantage. A kill web in mosaic warfare lacks critical nodes, key high-value airborne platforms or critical assets that will result in mission failures if lost. This disaggregation and edge-processing is supposed to ensure operations continue to be effective even when forces can no longer contact higher headquarters or other force-structure elements.
Booz Allen Hamilton’s Brilliant Swarms
Booz Allen Hamilton, represented with the maximum three winners per company in the 2025 Wash100 Awards, has a Golden Dome concept called Brilliant Swarms. It would use a satellite constellation with a peer-to-peer network using advanced AI and machine learning to intercept missile threats.
Brilliant Swarms would also use a network of low-Earth orbit, or LEO, satellites working together to autonomously detect, track and intercept ballistic missiles minutes after launch. The system would deliver a multi-shot capability to down missile launches during the boost-ascent and early mid-course phases of flight.
Learn of business opportunities in military technology at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Digital Transformation Summit on April 24. Boost your company’s bottom line and network with other leading military GovCon executives in a collaborative atmosphere. Don’t wait!
