{"id":286520,"date":"2025-10-08T12:40:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286520\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T12:40:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:40:19","slug":"canada-has-been-working-for-years-to-prepare-for-golden-dome-air-force-general-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286520\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada has been working for years to prepare for Golden Dome, Air Force general says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The Golden Dome, a yet-to-be-built air defence system, was first proposed by Trump earlier this year, and would use a network of radar, sensors and weapons to protect North America from attacks.Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Canada has been working for years to be ready for an initiative like the U.S.-led Golden Dome defence<\/a> system, says the Royal Canadian Air Force\u2019s top commander in NORAD, who argues that the two countries have little choice but to work together in the face of a shared, escalating threat from polar attacks.<\/p>\n

The commander, Major-General J.D. Smyth, told The Globe and Mail that the Air Force has been preparing for the Golden Dome as part of its work to shore up Canada\u2019s military presence in the Arctic and modernize North American air defences.<\/p>\n

Publicly, Ottawa has yet to confirm Canada\u2019s participation in the Golden Dome, a yet-to-be-built air defence system, first proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> earlier this year, that would use a network of radar, sensors and weapons to protect North America from attacks. But Mr. Trump said Tuesday during a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> that the pair are working together on the project.<\/p>\n

Maj.-Gen. Smyth said in an interview last month that the military is already working toward that goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is related to Golden Dome,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the aircraft, it\u2019s the radars, it\u2019s the command-and-control systems. And then the effectors \u2013 so, ground-based air defence or whether it\u2019s the interceptors that the U.S. has based in Alaska.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Maj.-Gen. Smyth has overseen the modernization of NORAD, a decades-old air-defence command that is run jointly with the United States, since July of last year.<\/p>\n

The Canadian government has committed nearly $40-billion <\/b>as part of that modernization work. The updates include <\/b>over-the-horizon radar, a network of sensors called CROSSBOW and a range of weapons, communications and equipment upgrades. <\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has tied Canada\u2019s participation in the Golden Dome to its trade with the United States. Mr. Carney\u2019s office has previously confirmed there are \u201cactive discussions ongoing\u201d between the two governments on the issue. But those discussions come at a time when Mr. Carney has pledged to reduce Canada\u2019s reliance on the United States, including its dependence on the Americans for defence and security.<\/p>\n

Maj.-Gen. Smyth said Canada and the United States face the same threat when it comes to potential attacks over the North Pole. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe likely threat to Canada is a missile coming from over the horizon, the likely threat to the United States is the same thing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t separate the ability to defend from the geography. So, we have to work together with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The mountains of the Arctic Cordillera rise above the landscape of Ellesmere Island on July 14. Russia\u2019s wars, hypersonic weapons, and great-power rivalry have redefined the Arctic\u2019s strategic value.Gavin John\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s current work in the Arctic is part of a larger NORAD modernization plan, which consists of five key areas: enhancing surveillance and detection, improving command control and communications, modernizing air weapons, upgrading infrastructure and investing in research and development, according to a plan published by the Department of National Defence.<\/p>\n

The groundwork for the Golden Dome was laid through the NORAD Modernization Project, which was first announced in 2022 by former U.S. president Joe Biden and ex-prime minister Justin Trudeau.<\/p>\n

The skies have become more dangerous since then, with Russia\u2019s continued war in Ukraine, airspace violations in Europe, and increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward NATO.<\/p>\n

Maj.-Gen. Smyth said that while NORAD\u2019s current systems can accurately identify some missile launches, new hypersonic missiles are much more difficult to detect and track. <\/p>\n

\u201cRussian systems are difficult to detect with the traditional means we\u2019ve used, so we need to have additional layers of sensors to be able to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Among those systems is the 3M22 Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, capable of speeds up to Mach 9 \u2013 or 11,025 kilomtres per hour \u2013 and soon deployable by submarine, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S.-based think tank. Complementing it is the Oreshnik missile, with an estimated range of 2,500 kilometres and top speeds near 12,300 kilometres per hour.<\/p>\n

Maj.-Gen. Smyth said increasing the capacity to shoot down such weapons is critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a deterrence perspective, the more that we can protect and the more difficult we can make it to an adversary to have a successful strike, the less likely they will conduct a strike. It\u2019s basic deterrence by denial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s relationship with U.S. missile defence has been fraught. Between 1958 and 1963, the United States deployed two Bomarc missile sites in Ontario and Quebec, but none in the Arctic. The project was cancelled in 1972.<\/p>\n

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In 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin refused to join U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense, citing concerns about sovereignty erosion, high costs and American strategic motives under President George W. Bush.<\/p>\n

Two decades later, the geopolitical and technological landscape has shifted dramatically. Russia\u2019s wars, hypersonic weapons, and great-power rivalry have redefined the Arctic\u2019s strategic value.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has put the cost of the Golden Dome system at an estimated $175-billion over three years. It\u2019s unclear how much it will cost Canada.<\/p>\n

Maj.-Gen. Smyth said the cost-benefit analysis for Canada is clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have infinite risk on one side and infinite cost on the other,\u201d Maj.-Gen. Smyth said. \u201cWhere do you want to put the slider?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The Golden Dome, a yet-to-be-built air defence system, was first proposed by Trump…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":286521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2148,2138,671,104,2132,692,2147,2131,2143,2144,2140,2133,2130,79,407,746,2142,2137,2159,2134,2135,454,2139,1165,728,2149,108,2154,2155,50,2157,2152,2156,2150,2153,2136,85,2146,80,2145,2151,1458,158,1164,2141,1154,107,2158],"class_list":{"0":"post-286520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-news","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}