US military laser shoots down government drone in Texas incident
The Pentagon used a high-energy laser system to down a Customs and Border Protection drone described as ‘seemingly threatening’
The US military shot down a government drone with a laser-based anti-drone system, an accident that prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to bar flights on Thursday in an area around Fort Hancock, Texas, congressional aides told Reuters.
Congressional aides told Reuters the Pentagon used the high-energy laser system to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone near the Mexican border, in an area that often has incursions from Mexican drones used by drug cartels.
The Pentagon, Federal Aviation Administration and Customs and Border Protection issued a statement saying the military used a “counter-unmanned aircraft system ... to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace”.
The statement added that the incident “took place far away from populated areas and there were no commercial aircraft in the vicinity. These agencies will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future”.
US lawmakers Rick Larsen, Bennie Thompson and Andre Carson, top Democrats on committees overseeing aviation and Homeland Security issues, criticised the lack of coordination in the drone shootdown.
The lawmakers said they warned months ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan proposal to train counter-drone operators and address coordination issues “was a short-sighted idea”.