Greg Mello, director of the Los Alamos Study Group, which studies the US nuclear arsenal, stated that none of the current US or other countries’ missile defense systems are capable of countering Russian non-ballistic nuclear weapons.
According to him, the US initiative to create the Golden Dome system is technically unfeasible. Mello noted that Russia possesses weapons such as the Poseidon underwater drone, hypersonic missiles, and cruise missiles, which are specifically designed to overcome missile defense systems.
He emphasized that instead of fanciful projects like Golden Dome, real arms control measures are needed to ensure mutual security.
Hypersonics, at least, are likely overrated. They reduce the window between detection and countermeasure deployment. They also can’t maneuver very well without losing their hypersonic speed or generating too much heat, and therefore travel on a predictable course.
Drones have been the champion technology of the Ukraine war, and that’s probably the future. Of course, those are also a reason why a Golden Dome plan wouldn’t work.