The U.S. currently relies on ground-level interceptors in California and Alaska, which provide limited protection against countries like North Korea, but not against larger-scale and more complex missile attacks.

(NewsNation) — Ukraine’s coordinated drone attack on Russian targets this weekend raises questions about the U.S. military’s ability to protect itself from a similar attack, particularly after mysterious drones were sighted in New Jersey and other states last year.

Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, the former U.S. Air Force assistant vice chief of staff, says the current defense system that shields the U.S. from such attacks is lacking as technologies continue to evolve.

Newton, NewsNation’s senior national security contributor, characterized Ukraine’s use of 117 drones to attack 40 Russian bombers as “extraordinary.” The mission, he said, was executed with military and intelligence-based precision, having been planned for more than a year under the direction of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Newton said aspects of the operation provide a blueprint for American military defense officials as they continue to strategize for possible future military attacks from adversaries such as Russia and China that will likely involve drones and an array of nuclear missiles.

“It’s something we’ve got to be worried about,” Newton told NewsNation.

Sunday’s Ukrainian drone attack took place less than two weeks after President Donald Trump outlined plans for the “Golden Dome”,  a “game-changing” multi-layered defense system officials claim will protect the U.S. against nearly 100% of attacks.

How the Golden Dome would protect the United States

Newton said the super-technology that will be used in the “Golden Dome” is what has been missing in a military missile defense system first introduced in former President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983.

Officials say the “Golden Dome” will be a state-of-the-art system with land, sea and space sensors and interceptors.

The U.S. currently relies on ground-level interceptors in California and Alaska, which provide limited protection against countries like North Korea, but not against larger-scale and more complex missile attacks.

Yet, evolving technology that reduces the detectability of enemy drones also requires a stronger level of defense planning, Newton said. He compares the shift to that of Improvised Explosive Devices used by foreign troops in Iraq and Afghanistan during wars in the Middle East, which led to the injury and death of American soldiers.

Drones represent the next iteration of weaponry that U.S. military defense officials must now contend with.

“We’re really in the midst of making sure for the next several years that we are armed and capable of addressing a threat we didn’t see,” Newton said.

How Ukraine drone attack exploited Russian defense blind spot

NewsNation national security contributor and former CIA officer and FBI special agent Tracy Walder believes the well-executed Ukrainian mission speaks more to how ill-prepared Russia was for such an attack than an alarm for U.S. officials.

Part of the issue is the overriding American perception of Russia as a powerhouse, Walder said. While she is not convinced that the U.S. is entirely well-defended against a similar drone attack, the incident also proves to her that Russia is not omniscient, as some may believe.

Who is making drones like the ones used in Ukraine’s attack?

Walder expects Iran to be among the top producers of these drones, which she predicts will be sold to Russia and China. That puts the onus on U.S. military defense officials to continue developing non-kinetic defenses, including GPS jammers designed to throw drones off-course as well as directed energy weapons and lasers designed to keep the U.S. one step ahead of its enemies.

Newton and Walder expect drone technology to continue to evolve, making them smaller and allowing them to fly at lower elevations and with lower heat emissions. Such developments will allow the drones to remain off the radars of defense systems like “The Golden Dome.” 

“Drones change the face of warfare,” Walder told NewsNation, adding, “So I think this is something we’re going to have to deal with and obviously as technology evolves, we have to evolve in terms of our defenses.”

 New Jersey drone sightings fuel public’s national security concerns

The focus on drones continues as unanswered questions remain surrounding the mysterious sightings that took place last fall in New Jersey and other locations, including U.S. military installations.

Despite pledging to provide answers about the drone sightings, Trump and his administration have yet to provide concrete conclusions as complaints over a lack of government transparency continue from lawmakers and residents alike.

Luis Elizondo, the former leader of the Defense Department’s advanced aerospace threat identification program, told NewsNation in April that the drone sightings are problematic given the unknown nature of the objects.

“Drones fly completely unchallenged,” Elizondo said. “We still don’t know where they’re coming from, we still don’t know who’s behind the wheel. We still don’t know where they’re going. This is a big problem. And we’ve known about it for a long time.”

The Ukrainian drone attack adds to those concerns, said Newton, who called the “known unknown” aspect of the issues as perplexing.

While he is not calling for Americans to begin building underground bunkers in fear of possible drone attacks, he said, “It’s also compelling to make sure that we are defending against it.”

Walder understands how the public confuses a lack of government transparency with a lack of a plan to develop effective drone defense strategies.

Despite a lack of official conclusions, Walder hypothesizes that the drones spotted last fall were indeed launched by the U.S. military as a way of testing detection levels as part of its defense planning against possible attacks.

But after multiple federal agencies, including the FBI, issued a joint statement that only concluded that the government had ruled out that drones spotted in the U.S. originated from foreign adversaries without giving as much information as the public was seeking, she understands the levels of public concern.

“The problem is that the public sees that as just ineptitude,” Walder said. “When we look at that, the public says, ‘Well, do you even know how to defend us against these,’ and ‘are you even capable when you can’t even get the messaging right?’”

However, she said that as drone warfare continues, playing things close to the vest is critical.

“We don’t need our enemies — or even our friends — knowing what we’re doing to be able to track these things,” Walder said.