Pentagon Laser Shoots Down Three Cartel-Linked Drones After Earlier Shooting Down A Customs Drone

FORT BLISS, TEXAS—The U.S. military used an Army high-energy laser to shoot down three cartel-linked drones at the southern border this week, following a February operation in which a Pentagon laser shot down a drone belonging to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Northern Command said the three unmanned aircraft were defeated during the late-night hours of August 25 and 26. Officials classified them as hostile because they supported activity posing a physical threat to military personnel and border agents, though they did not disclose where the engagement occurred, which side of the border the drones occupied or which cartels operated them.

The Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser marked its first use against cartel-linked aircraft with a perfect three-for-three result. The February federal drone was also destroyed near the Texas border after military personnel mistook it for a threat, giving the technology an early opportunity to establish that beam accuracy and employer recognition are separate systems.

Roughly 8,000 service members are deployed along 1,954 miles under the joint border task force. Northern Command says cartel networks use drones to assist human smuggling and watch American personnel, and that the latest action was coordinated with Mexican partners.

The directed-energy program can now report four confirmed kills and one completed lesson in interagency communication. Future aircraft will receive the full benefit of both capabilities, subject to operational security and a readable federal inventory tag.