Pentagon commanders overseeing the development of President Trump’s signature Golden Dome missile defense shield invited private companies with new technologies that haven’t yet been contracted or purchased by the U.S. military to witness two secretive tests of the shield.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Brian W. Gibson, the vice director of the Golden Dome project, told an audience Wednesday at an intelligence summit near Washington that “it wasn’t just military” officials who were present for the tests.
“We invited industry partners with non-program of record things to come inside those venues,” he said during remarks at the 2026 Intelligence and National Security Summit in Bethesda, Maryland.
“How often does that happen inside of our military today? Not often,” said Gen. Gibson, who emphasized that the Golden Dome project is focused on integrating new advanced technologies.
While he did not name any private companies or individuals who were invited to witness the tests, he stressed that “the partnerships with industry through those tests were incredibly valuable and we pushed the bounds.”
Gen. Gibson’s remarks at the summit hosted this week by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) came roughly two weeks after his boss, U.S. Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, made headlines by talking publicly about the two secretive Golden Dome tests.
Gen. Guetlein ― President Trump’s handpicked director of the multibillion-dollar Golden Dome project — said in remarks on Aug. 11 at the Space & Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, that the tests were promising, though he would not discuss details.
“We’ve had two tests. We can’t talk about those tests, but those tests were phenomenally successful, and they demonstrated that the capabilities that we are putting together — both command and control, our sensor network and our effectors — are going to be effective against the threats as they are currently designed,” Gen. Guetlein said.
Gen. Guetlein also said the Golden Dome system, which is designed to protect the entire continental U.S. from missile threats, is on schedule and expected to be functional by 2028.
One of the tests, he said, was conducted at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in June.
Gen. Guetlein described it as “the most complex test, with the most threats in the air” in the history of the testing range. He did not give details on whether the tests involved space-based aspects of the Golden Dome project.
Despite the assumed success of the system so far, there is palpable concern over the project’s future funding.
Gen. Gibson addressed the funding concerns in an exclusive interview on the latest episode of the Washington Times’ Threat Status podcast, asserting that the Pentagon is tracking every Golden Dome dollar that comes from Congress.
“Gen. Guetlein is laser-focused on, if things are not affordable and scalable, we are not going to do it,” Gen. Gibson said on the podcast. “We take it serious, from Congress, the amount of money that they are investing in this effort.”
The specific architecture of the Golden Dome is classified, and its funding has been a continuous point of contention between lawmakers and the Pentagon.
A May report from the Congressional Budget Office estimated the missile shield could cost as much as $1.2 trillion over 20 years, though the study makes clear the estimate is not based on “a specific administration proposal.” The White House initially estimated that the entire Golden Dome project would cost $175 billion over three years.
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