Army's air defense lessons from Iran will inspire homeland changes
- Roughly 2,500 soldiers from Space and Missile Defense Command manning Patriot and THAAD systems just earned their 'battlefield certification' against Iranian drones and missiles.
- The Pentagon is crowing that these lessons are 'critical' for conjuring up the Golden Dome — an air defense system so magical, it will likely require a golden budget.
- The article is 90% paywall-begging and 10% substance, proving that even defense news now requires a subscription to learn if your tax dollars are being spent wisely.
- Iran, presumably, has learned a lesson too: next time, use more drones.
Brief Summary
The U.S. Army is basking in the warm glow of its own competence, revealing that the 2,500 soldiers who've been swatting Iranian missiles and drones out of the sky have provided 'lessons' that will inform the development of the Golden Dome, the new homeland missile shield. This is the military equivalent of saying, 'We threw a bunch of darts and hit the board; now let's build the board better.' The rest of the article is a desperate plea for you to subscribe to the Washington Examiner, likely to fund more such groundbreaking revelations.
Why This Matters
This isn't just about the Army high-fiving itself. This is your wallet being prepped for the heist of a new multi-trillion-dollar defense boondoggle. The 'lessons' from Iran are going to be used to justify a gargantuan spending spree on a system that will probably intercept about 60% of incoming threats, with the other 40% landing on cities and being blamed on budget cuts. It's the same cycle: foreign threat emerges, defense contractors sharpen their pencils, Congress gets moist-eyed about 'national security,' and you get to eat more beans and rice to pay for it.