Why Donald Trump Cannot Build The Golden Dome Without Canada

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled new details on his plan for a missile defence system known as "Golden Dome", which is estimated to cost a total of some $175 billion. The "Golden Dome" will be the first weapon the US puts in space, and it should be operational in about three years, by the end of his time in office, the President said.

The System is meant to protect the United States from all kinds of missile or drone attacks, but Trump said that Canada has expressed interest in being part of it as "they want to have protection also."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday his government is talking to the US about joining President Donald Trump's future Golden Dome missile defense program.

"Is it a good idea for Canada? Yes, it is a good to have protections in place for Canadians," Mr Carney said. He also added, "We cooperate if necessary but not necessarily cooperate," Mr Carney said.

However, he missed out one important detail, that is, he cannot build it without Canada. The latter would need to play an important role in the working of the $500 billion Golden Dome. They would need to provide radars and airspace needed to track the incoming missiles in the Arctic.

“There's a lot we just don't know. There's a lot that needs to be revealed about how the economic and security partnership with America and Canada will unfold,” said Shuvaloy Majumdar, a Conservative member of Canada's parliament.

Trump has entangled the US and Canada in tariff wars, which have caused strained ties between the two countries. Hence, Canada now has some leverage when it comes to the US.

“None of [the Golden Dome partnership] has been spelled out or negotiated,” Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. “The president, because of his rhetoric, has alienated a large part of the Canadian population, and that's being reflected in the political leaders … it's not, you know, good old Canada-USA. It's like, ‘We can't do this easily, because our people are very upset.'”

Canada has a large airspace that offers the US an important line of sight for the US sensors to shoot down missiles from China and Russia. Moreover, historically, Canada has played a big role in air and missile defence for North America.

“What Canada really brings is terrain,” said Glen VanHerck, a retired Air Force general who led the U.S. Northern Command until last year. “If we can position, or Canada positions, over-the-horizon radars further north in the Arctic, that dramatically increases the United States and Canada's ability to see over the pole into Russia, into China and other places.”

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, has ensured since 67 years that American and Canadian militaries work together daily to track anything that comes close to the airspace. The radars of both the countries share information.

Canada has funded 40 percent of NORAD investments, and is adding $38 billion over the next two decades. Without the help of Canada, the US will have difficulties building an important North American air defence.

Carney and his ministers “are having wide-ranging and constructive discussions with their American counterparts,” Audrey Champoux, a spokesperson from the prime minister's office, said in a statement.

The U.S Northern Command, which oversees NORAD, said it “will continue to prioritise our core mission of defending the United States and Canada and will ensure any new capabilities align with that objective.”