On Thursday, the U.S. military deployed a laser to bring down a Customs and Border Protection drone near Fort Hancock, Texas. This incident prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expand the restricted airspace in the vicinity of El Paso, as reported by members of Congress.
In a related development earlier this month, the FAA had previously enacted a shutdown of the El Paso airport and its surrounding airspace due to another occasion involving an anti-drone laser. However, the current airspace restriction over Fort Hancock does not impact commercial flights.
Representative Rick Larsen, along with other leading Democrats from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, disclosed that they had been briefed through official channels about the incident.
“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” Larsen and his colleagues expressed in a statement. “We said months ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS, and the FAA was a short-sighted idea. Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence.”
Both the Defense Department and the Transportation Department directed inquiries back to the FAA, which issued a brief statement confirming the expanded airspace closure around Fort Hancock. Customs and Border Protection has yet to provide a response to requests for comment.
