New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- US President Donald Trump is pushing American companies to take a bigger role in his planned Golden Dome missile defence shield, as his administration moves to turn an ambitious proposal into a functioning system despite ongoing concerns over its technology, cost and funding.

The project envisages a nationwide, multi-layered defence network designed to detect and intercept missiles before they can reach the United States.

Trump has presented it as a central part of his national security agenda and has said he wants the system to be fully operational before the end of his second term.

The scale of the plan goes well beyond Israel's Iron Dome, which provides ground-based protection against shorter range rockets and ...