Deploying parts of President Trump’s Golden Dome missile shield in Greenland would make Americans safer as the massive Arctic island is “critical” for the US to be able to stop an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched by Russia or China, according to experts.
The strategic importance of Greenland lies in its geography and geometry.
Nearly four times the size of Texas, the autonomous Danish territory would likely be in the path of any ICBM fired by Russia or China. Greenland’s position within the Arctic Circle also means a flight path over the island would be the shortest distance between Moscow and Washington.
“It’s important technologically. To be able to detect early that an ICBM is being fired [from Russia], Greenland is the perfect spot for that,” Justina Budginaite-Froehly, a nonresident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council, told The Post.
“Considering the geography of Greenland and that the missiles would go over Greenland, strengthening defenses there is totally understandable,” Budginaite-Froehly continued. “[Going over Greenland from Russia] is the shortest route to the US.”
Trump has vowed that the Golden Dome — a proposed multi-layered missile defense system for the US — will be capable of taking out “hypersonic missiles, ballistic missiles and advanced cruise missiles …. even if they are launched from other sides of the world.”
Congress has already approved about $25 billion for the Golden Dome — which is expected to cost at least $175 billion to build — but Trump suggested last week that the US “needs Greenland” for the missile shield.
“It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building,” he said of the Arctic island, in a Truth Social post.
Peter Doran, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that the US does not currently have a system – like Israel’s “Iron Dome” – in place to fend off incoming ICBMs.
“Greenland is critical to that strategy,” Doran argued.
“Most Americans are under the false impression that the US currently has protection against incoming missiles from Russia or other countries, much like Israel has protection against Iranian missiles,” the expert explained.
“Frankly, that’s not true, and it’s very disturbing to anyone who understands the real risk.”
An ICMB launched from Russia would take about 40 minutes to reach a target in the US, according to military experts.
With an estimated range between 6,200 and 11,800 miles, Russia’s so-called “Satan II” ICMB has the capability to deliver a 10-ton payload — containing 10 to 15 nuclear warheads at once – to any location around the world.
The Pentagon has reportedly been exploring using Fort Drum, an Army base near the Canadian border in upstate New York, as a potential site for Golden Dome missile interceptors, according to Politico.
“Compared to Fort Drum, Greenland does not appear to be a better location for such interceptors,” an anonymous former defense official told the outlet.
Doran disagreed with that assessment.
“It is far more advantageous to have interceptors in Greenland than on the American homeland when it comes to incoming nuclear missiles,” he said.
Doran explained that positioning Golden Dome interceptors in Greenland would give the US a bigger cushion, or margin of error, for detecting and shooting down an incoming nuke.
“Heaven forbid an American president ever faces that scenario, you want more opportunities to intercept rather than fewer,” the expert explained. “By having the Golden Dome positioned in Greenland, Americans are safer, and we have a wider margin of error.”
“By placing our Golden Dome interceptors in Greenland, every future US president will have a greater ability to defend the homeland from a nightmare scenario.”
