The Defense Department used a high-energy laser to shoot down a drone belonging to the Department of Homeland Security over a small border town near El Paso Thursday, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to shutter the airspace nearby, according to four people familiar with what transpired who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The strike was startlingly reminiscent of a similar episode earlier this month, also near El Paso. Officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, using the same technology on loan from the military to combat drug-smuggling, fired a high-energy laser at what they thought was a drone, but turned out to be a metallic balloon. The F.A.A. briefly closed the airspace.
In both cases, the lasers were used without the F.A.A.’s approval, which many aviation safety experts maintain is a violation of the law. The latest strike was met with alarm from Democratic lawmakers, and was sure to add to scrutiny of a seeming communications breakdown among powerful government agencies over the use of lasers in sensitive airspace.
A preliminary internal report on the incident said Customs and Border Protection had not notified the Defense Department it was launching a drone in that area, so to the military, it was an unknown drone, a Pentagon official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation into the matter.
Despite their bitter disagreements, the agencies involved tried to present a united front on Thursday night, releasing a joint statement in which they claimed to be “working together in an unprecedented fashion.”
“This reported engagement occurred when the Department of War employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace,” the statement read, adding that the Pentagon, the F.A.A. and Customs and Border Protection “will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future.”
Earlier Thursday night, the F.A.A. responded to the downing of the drone by barring planes from flying at any altitude below 18,000 feet in skies above Fort Hancock, Texas, a small border town about 55 miles southeast of El Paso, citing “special security reasons.”
The Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security have embraced high-energy lasers as an efficient and cost-effective tool to combat drug smuggling by Mexican cartels. Last year, a counter-drone official with D.H.S. told Congress that organizations hostile to law enforcement had flown about 27,000 drones within 500 meters of the border in the first half of 2024.
It is unclear whether the operators who fired at the Homeland Security Department drone on Thursday believed they were aiming at a drone belonging to a cartel operators, or if the drone had appeared to originate in Mexico. Fort Hancock is a sparsely inhabited town along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The F.A.A. said in a statement late Thursday that its latest flight restriction was an expansion of an existing one in the area and was not expected to affect commercial flights.
The F.A.A. advisory announcing the restriction extends until late June, though it is likely that it could be lifted ahead of that if the F.A.A. and the Pentagon, which have been locking horns over whether such high-energy lasers can be safely deployed along the U.S. border with Mexico, come to an agreement.
Earlier this month, after Customs and Border Protection officials using the Pentagon’s weapon shot down a balloon, the F.A.A. announced it would be issuing a similar closure of the airspace over El Paso for 10 days, only to lift the restrictions hours later under pressure from the White House, disrupting travel and shocking the local authorities.
In the weeks since, a heated debate has broken out over the laws governing when and how the F.A.A. and the Department of Transportation must be looped into other agencies’ decisions to deploy high-energy lasers as part of counter-drone operations.
The law states that the Pentagon “shall coordinate” with the heads of the Transportation Department and the F.A.A. before rolling out plans to disable or destroy drones, if the means might affect aviation safety, civilian aviation and aerospace operations. Congress recently added the stipulation that if such potential dangers are identified, the Pentagon must work with the Transportation Department “to mitigate adverse impacts.”
The Department of Homeland Security is subject to similar coordination requirements under a different section of the law.
A Pentagon official, Mark R. Ditlevson, was pressed by lawmakers on Thursday to explain why the Defense Department allowed high-energy lasers to be shot in El Paso airspace earlier this month over the objections of the F.A.A. In a hearing to consider his nomination to become the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, he was asked repeatedly to about the use of those lasers.
“The Department of War always cares about safety, and we want to defend this country and defend Americans, we don’t want to ever do anything that would be unsafe,” Mr. Ditlevson said.
Under the relevant authorities covering Fort Bliss, the Army base in that area, he added, the statutory requirement “is to coordinate with the F.A.A., it does not require approval from the F.A.A.”
“But I can assure you,” he continued, “most importantly, this system is incredibly safe.” A moment later, he added: “We continue to work together.”
But some found his explanation unconvincing.
“The coordination failed,” replied Senator Jack Reed, the Democrat of Rhode Island who had been questioning him.
On Thursday night, the top Democrats on three panels overseeing aviation and homeland security released a joint statement expressing outrage at the news that the Pentagon had shot down a drone belonging to another branch of the U.S. government.
“Our heads are exploding,” Representatives Rick Larsen of Washington, Andre Carson of Indiana, and Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi said in a joint statement, calling attention to proposed legislation to train counter-drone operators and improve coordination between the Pentagon, D.H.S. and the F.A.A.
In a statement, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, the top Democrat on that chamber’s aviation subcommittee, said she would ask for the inspectors general at the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation to begin a joint investigation into the both of the high-energy laser incidents that prompted the F.A.A. to shutdown airspace near El Paso and Fort Hancock.
“The Trump administration’s incompetence continues to cause chaos in our skies,” she said, adding: “The situation is alarming and demands a thorough, independent investigation.”
Hamed Aleaziz contributed reporting.
Karoun Demirjian is a breaking news reporter for The Times.
The post Pentagon Fires Another Laser at a Drone, Prompting a New Air Closure appeared first on New York Times.
