Golden Dome Director Gen. Michael Guetlein said the program’s first phase, which he called “Epic 1,” is intended to deter a coercive decapitation strike against U.S. leadership and a limited rogue-nation attack on the homeland by 2028. He said a second phase would add the architecture’s full capabilities by 2035.1
Guetlein made the remarks virtually to the Ohio Space Forum in Cleveland on Sept. 17, according to Aviation Week. He said the 2028 effort would rely heavily on adapting and integrating existing capabilities through an “exploit-buy-build” approach, while the later phase would introduce technologies that are not immediately available, including directed energy, next-generation communications and sensing, and quantum technologies.1
The term in Guetlein’s remarks was “Epic 1,” not “Epoch 1.” Aviation Week reported that a Golden Dome spokesperson declined to elaborate on the plan because of operational-security concerns.1
The initial focus is narrower than the full policy scope established by President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order. That order directs the Defense Department to develop a next-generation shield against ballistic, hypersonic and advanced cruise missiles and other advanced aerial attacks from peer, near-peer and rogue adversaries. It also calls for space-based tracking and intercept capabilities, underlayer and terminal defenses, a custody layer, pre-launch and boost-phase defeat options, supply-chain resilience and non-kinetic capabilities.2
Independent reporting from the Air and Space Forces Association conference said the program has tested its command-and-control system twice, established its first operational site and begun construction at additional sites. Guetlein said he believed Golden Dome would deliver an operational capability in the summer of 2028. Those statements describe an initial operational milestone, not completion of every capability ordered in 2025 or of the later Epic 2 architecture.3
An American Enterprise Institute analyst told Aviation Week that protection against a decapitation strike could concern relatively small areas around the president, Capitol and selected National Command Authority elements. That is outside analysis, not a published Golden Dome deployment plan. Aviation Week also reported that the program’s spokesperson did not provide further architecture details.1
The original LinkedIn lead was posted by Steve Trimble.4