Yaffee: Trump's 'Iron Dome of America' idea is another reason Space Command should be in Huntsville

Whether you like him or hate him, one thing you can say about former President Donald Trump is he is a genius at marketing. His “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan might be the most famous in history. Now, he’s using his marketing skills to push for a big expansion of missile defense in the U.S.

“We’ll build an Iron Dome over our country, a state-of-the-art missile defense shield, and it’s all made in the USA,” Trump said on the campaign trail. “I think it’s time that we have one.”

While the United States has been working on missile defense for decades, calling it an “Iron Dome” over America is great away to bring a lot of attention to an often overlooked part of our national defense.

Trump likely got the idea from seeing the success of Israel’s Iron Dome system in action recently, which has been great at intercepting rockets coming from Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Trump thinks if Israel can do it, America can do it bigger and better — and I believe he’s right.

While we might not face threats from groups like Hamas or Hezbollah here at home, Trump is on to something here. With China expanding and modernizing their nuclear arsenal, with Russia invading its neighbors, with Iran getting closer to developing a nuclear weapon, and with North Korea continuing to be unpredictable — a strong missile defense system over America should be a important part of our defense infrastructure.

Any kind of missile defense system over the U.S. will have to be built with space in mind. Covering a lot more ground than Israel’s system, U.S. missile defense will have to work in conjunction with America’s satellite and defense infrastructure in earth’s orbit. This means that U.S. Space Command will be heavily involved in the process. This is just another reason why the new U.S. Space Command Headquarters should be located in Huntsville.

The Rocket City is already leading the way when it comes to developing new missile defense technology. Earlier this year at a Leidos facility in Huntsville, the company announced its Enduring Shield rocket system, a ground-based technology, capable of eliminating fast-moving aerial threats, successfully cleared a critical milestone in its global delivery.

Also earlier this year, Lockheed Martin was chosen by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to provide it’s next generation interceptor, one that will be developed in new modern faculties that opened in Huntsville just last year.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on the missile defense infrastructure that already exists in Huntsville, not to mention the large presence of NASA and the Redstone Arsenal.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration decided to keep the Space Command headquarters in Colorado for purely political reasons, despite several studies indicating Huntsville as the No. 1 choice across the board.

Our Alabama Congressional delegation should use Trump’s “Iron Dome over America” idea to remind the country that U.S. Space Command HQ needs to be located in Huntsville. It doesn’t just make sense for Alabama, but it makes sense for the future of national security.

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee