US Military Accidentally Shoots Down Border Protection Drone With Laser (apnews.com)
- Reference: 0180869996
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2133209/us-military-accidentally-shoots-down-border-protection-drone-with-laser
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/military-laser-border-drone-texas-airport-55aaab7093f7d6dd174f909f3875001c
> The U.S. military used a laser Thursday to [1]shoot down a "seemingly threatening" drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said. The case of mistaken identity prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to close additional airspace around Fort Hancock, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of El Paso. The military is required to formally notify the FAA when it takes any counter-drone action inside U.S. airspace.
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> It was the second time in two weeks that a laser was fired in the area. The last time it was CBP that used the weapon and nothing was hit. That incident occurred near Fort Bliss and prompted the FAA to shut down air traffic at El Paso airport and the surrounding area. This time, the closure was smaller and commercial flights were not affected.
The FAA, CBP and the Pentagon confirmed the incident in a joint statement, saying the military "employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace."
"At President Trump's direction, the Department of War, FAA, and Customs and Border Patrol are working together in an unprecedented fashion to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the U.S.-Mexico Border," the statement said. The report notes that 27,000 drones were detected within 1,600 feet of the southern border in the last six months of 2024.
Illinois Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member on the Senate's Aviation Subcommittee, is calling for an independent investigation to look into the matter. "The Trump administration's incompetence continues to cause chaos in our skies," Duckworth said.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/military-laser-border-drone-texas-airport-55aaab7093f7d6dd174f909f3875001c
They had no choice. (Score:2)
The last time it apparently missed, and that just looks bad.
Interesting ... (Score:2)
> The U.S. military used a laser Thursday to shoot down a "seemingly threatening" drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to Customs and Border Protection
The U.S. Military is threatened by unidentified DHS/CBP equipment and the Administration wonders why people are afraid of masked DHS/ICE agents. Seems like identification (and accountability) would be good all around. /rant
Makes one wonder why [1]ICE/CBP Is Quietly Stockpiling Weaponry [newrepublic.com] - quadruple/double over 2024 (respectively):
> Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have formally approved contracts for at least a whopping $144 million in weapons, ammunition, and other accessories during Trump’s first year. The analysis—based on government contracting data—documents at least a fourfold increase for ICE and a doubling for CBP, relative to 2024, concluding that this will “build a heavily-armed domestic police force.”
Would make for a nice, loyal, private army going into the 2026 and 2028 elections ... /tin-foil-hat
Google: [2]ICE weapon funding [google.com]
[1] https://newrepublic.com/article/206994/ice-stockpiling-military-weaponry-trump-forever-war
[2] https://www.google.com/search?q=ICE+weapon+funding
The US vows to free the US (Score:2)
Understanding the US is currently under the thumb of an ancient, tyrannical dictator US President Donald Trump has vowed to end the regime of the United States and free its people from oppression. The President is quoted as saying "They have oil, they have all the oil, did you know this? I just learned how much oil they have, and land. So much land, the United States will be the biggest the country on the continent after we take over the US. The US President better surrender quietly."
The even-better part (Score:2)
So that drone that some dipshit ordered destroyed is part of a [1]ridiculously inefficient program [cato.org] that wastes enormous amounts of money even when they aren't used for target practice by mouth-breathing clowns.
A few fun details from that report:
Drones have led to only 0.5 percent of apprehensions at a cost of $32,000 per arrest.
A Predator B drone engine cannot regularly handle its maximum flight of 20 hours; even 6 or 7 hours of operation per day would cut at least 15 years off the 20-year lifespans of
[1] https://www.cato.org/immigration-research-policy-brief/drones-border-efficacy-privacy-implications
Apparently it had a gun. (Score:2)
The US military swears the ICE drone had a pistol and made threatening gestures with it, clearly a terrorist threat.
ICE swears the US military laser looked Mexican and refused to obey totally reasonable orders to 'go back where you came from'.
Liars Or Idiots? (Score:2)
> The report notes that 27,000 drones were detected within 1,600 feet of the southern border in the last six months of 2024.
27,000 flights. They have no clue how many drones it actually was. Could have been 3.
Technically true. (Score:3)
Shooting down each other's drones because nobody is competent enough for coordination is, technically, "working together in an unprecedented fashion". So there is that.