Why Golden Dome Must Keep Technical Integration Separate From Permission to Act

This white paper examines the growing importance of mission integration within the Department of Defense’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative. Using KBR’s public Golden Dome strategy as a case study, it argues that technical integration, data fusion, modeling, and decision support must remain separate from government authority to execute physical actions. As Golden Dome combines sensors, interceptors, command systems, and software from multiple vendors, execution authority must remain current, action-specific, independently testable, and government-controlled. The paper explores how modular open architectures, evolving technologies, and distributed defense systems increase the need for clearly defined authority at the final execution boundary.