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By Theresa Hitchens
August 06, 2025
The Space and Missile Defense Symposium organizer said the Pentagon asked them to shift discussion about the Golden Dome project to another event.
SMD 2025 — The Trump administration’s Golden Dome initiative to create an all-encompassing air and missile defense shield over the US will be the most ambitious Pentagon weapons program since Ronald Reagan’s (ultimately failed) Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in the 1980s.
But discussion of the massive project has been greatly curtailed at a conference dedicated to missile defense after government and industry sources here said the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s (OSD) public relations team barred Defense Department officials and military personnel from discussing the planned effort.
“We can’t comment on OSD guidance to senior officials. We were asked to roll our Golden Dome discussions into the [Missile Defense Agency] Golden Dome industry summit following the symposium and we agreed,” Bob English, who runs the Space and Missile Defense Symposium’s media operations, told Breaking Defense at the annual gathering of Army, Space Force and industry missile defense experts in Huntsville, Ala.
That industry summit is due to take place on Thursday, but despite being unclassified is not open to the press. Politico previously reported the apparent SMD ban.
When Breaking Defense asked the Pentagon about the restrictions at SMD, a defense official responded in a statement suggesting “operational security” was the impetus.
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Golden Dome is expected to involve myriad ongoing air and missile defense programs across the military services as well as re-launching the SDI-era program to develop space-based interceptors. Initial funding for the effort in the government’s reconciliation package amounts to $25 billion.
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Article continues:
breakingdefense.com
August 06, 2025
The Space and Missile Defense Symposium organizer said the Pentagon asked them to shift discussion about the Golden Dome project to another event.
SMD 2025 — The Trump administration’s Golden Dome initiative to create an all-encompassing air and missile defense shield over the US will be the most ambitious Pentagon weapons program since Ronald Reagan’s (ultimately failed) Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in the 1980s.
But discussion of the massive project has been greatly curtailed at a conference dedicated to missile defense after government and industry sources here said the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s (OSD) public relations team barred Defense Department officials and military personnel from discussing the planned effort.
“We can’t comment on OSD guidance to senior officials. We were asked to roll our Golden Dome discussions into the [Missile Defense Agency] Golden Dome industry summit following the symposium and we agreed,” Bob English, who runs the Space and Missile Defense Symposium’s media operations, told Breaking Defense at the annual gathering of Army, Space Force and industry missile defense experts in Huntsville, Ala.
That industry summit is due to take place on Thursday, but despite being unclassified is not open to the press. Politico previously reported the apparent SMD ban.
When Breaking Defense asked the Pentagon about the restrictions at SMD, a defense official responded in a statement suggesting “operational security” was the impetus.
.
.
.
Golden Dome is expected to involve myriad ongoing air and missile defense programs across the military services as well as re-launching the SDI-era program to develop space-based interceptors. Initial funding for the effort in the government’s reconciliation package amounts to $25 billion.
.
.
.
Article continues:
At missile defense conference, the first rule of Golden Dome is don't talk about Golden Dome - Breaking Defense
The Space and Missile Defense Symposium organizer said the Pentagon asked them to shift discussion about the Golden Dome project to another event.
