US President Donald Trump has announced that a design for the "Golden Dome" missile defence system has been selected, with plans for it to be operational before the end of his term in office.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump revealed that an initial sum of $25bn (£18.7bn) has been earmarked for the project in a new budget bill.
The government has estimated that the system will ultimately cost much more over the decades.
Trump unveiled his intentions for the Golden Dome just days after returning to the White House in January, aiming to counter "next-generation" aerial threats to the US, including ballistic and cruise missiles.
US President Donald Trump has announced that a design for the "Golden Dome" missile defence system has been selected, with plans for it to be operational before the end of his term in office
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Seven days into his second administration, he ordered the defence department to submit plans for the system.
The Golden Dome will consist of "next-generation" technologies across land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors, according to Trump.
The system is partly inspired by Israel's Iron Dome but would be significantly larger and designed to combat a wider range of threats.
These include hypersonic weapons able to move faster than the speed of sound and fractional orbital bombardment systems that could deliver warheads from space.
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The system aims to stop missiles at various stages of their deployment, including before launch and while in flight
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Trump said: "All of them will be knocked out of the air. The success rate is very close to 100 per cent."
The system aims to stop missiles at various stages of their deployment, including before launch and while in flight.
Trump added that the Golden Dome would be "capable even of intercepting missiles launched from the other side of the world, or launched from space".
President Trump announced that Space Force General Michael Guetlein will oversee the project. Gen Guetlein currently serves as vice chief of space operations at Space Force.
The system will aim to mirror Israel's air defence system 'Iron Dome' which intercepted missiles fired by Hezbollah
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Trump also noted that Canada had asked to be part of the system. During a visit to Washington earlier this year, then-Canadian defence minister Bill Blair confirmed Canada's interest, saying it "makes sense" and was in the country's "national interest".
The total cost of the Golden Dome is expected to reach $175bn (£130bn) over time, with the Congressional Budget Office estimating up to $542bn (£405bn) over 20 years for the space-based components alone.
Pentagon officials have long warned that existing systems have not kept pace with new missile technology from Russia and China.
Trump said: "There really is no current system. There has never been anything like this."
