The U.S. military used an Army high-energy laser system to shoot down three cartel drones along the southern border this week, marking the first operational use of directed-energy weapons against cartel aircraft in North America.
The U.S. military has confirmed it used a high-energy laser to shoot down three drones along the southern border this week, marking a major milestone in the fight against cartel surveillance along American soil. U.S. Northern Command said the unmanned aircraft were downed late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning by the southern border Joint Task Force using an Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser system.
The three drones were determined to be hostile because they were operating in support of activities posing a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and Customs and Border Protection agents. It is the first confirmed operational use of a directed-energy weapon against cartel drones in North America.
The strikes went down in the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas, according to military officials. The Joint Task Force, a roughly 8,000-soldier unit formed last year to support President Trump's border security crackdown, carried out the engagement.
Military officials did not specify exactly where the drones were shot down or which cartel networks they belonged to, citing operational security. A USNORTHCOM spokesperson said the shots were taken in coordination with all partners operating along the border, and that additional details would not be provided while counter-cartel and counter-drone operations remain ongoing.
The Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser system is a truck-mounted directed-energy weapon capable of disabling or destroying aerial threats at the speed of light. Its use against cartel drones signals a new phase in the Pentagon's effort to secure the border from above.
Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of the southern border Joint Task Force, said cartel networks are increasingly using drones to facilitate human smuggling and spy on American personnel.
"Cartel networks are increasingly employing unmanned aircraft systems to facilitate illicit human-smuggling and actively spy on our personnel and law enforcement partners," Taylor said. "By integrating layered countermeasures alongside advanced directed-energy capabilities like this laser system, we have made it clear that we will not tolerate hostile surveillance."
Counterterrorism experts say cartels primarily use drones near the border for surveillance to support the smuggling of narcotics, people, firearms, and other illicit goods. While cartels have not used weaponized drones inside the United States, they routinely deploy them inside Mexico to target rival organizations.
The successful laser engagement follows a bumpy rollout for directed-energy technology along the border. In February, a U.S. military laser accidentally shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone near Fort Hancock in southwest Texas. That same month, the FAA briefly shut down commercial airspace around El Paso following an internal safety disagreement between the FAA and the Pentagon over military drone tests involving a high-energy laser near Fort Bliss.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time that the FAA and Defense Department had acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion, and that the threat had been normalized.
The latest engagement shows the technology has matured from testing into real-world operations, giving border commanders a new tool to counter the cartels' growing drone presence without endangering U.S. personnel on the ground.
The confirmed laser takedowns are expected to accelerate the military's integration of directed-energy systems across the southern border. With cartel drone activity on the rise, commanders now have a proven, low-cost option to neutralize aerial threats in real time.
U.S. Northern Command said counter-drone operations remain ongoing, and additional laser-equipped units could be deployed to high-threat sectors. For border agents who have watched cartel drones shadow their patrols for years, the message from the Pentagon is unmistakable: the skies over the border now belong to the United States.
The U.S. military used an Army high-energy laser system to shoot down three cartel drones along the southern border this week, marking the first operational use of directed-energy weapons against cartel aircraft in North America.
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