{"id":27033,"date":"2026-03-09T01:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T01:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=27033"},"modified":"2026-03-09T01:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T01:15:12","slug":"pentagon-and-faa-to-conduct-anti-drone-laser-tests-after-earlier-use-closed-texas-airspace-twice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=27033","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon and FAA to conduct anti-drone laser tests after earlier use closed Texas airspace twice"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to conduct anti-drone laser tests in New Mexico after the military\u2019s deployment of the lasers led the FAA to suddenly close airspace in Texas twice in the last month.<\/p>\n

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The newly announced testing was being carried out to \u201cspecifically address FAA safety concerns,\u201d the military said Friday in a statement. It was to take place Saturday and Sunday at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers were concerned about an apparent lack of coordination after the Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser in early February without notifying the FAA. The federal agency that ensures safety in the skies decided to\u00a0close the airspace\u00a0over El Paso for a few hours, stranding many travelers.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration said it was working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 26 the U.S. military\u00a0used the laser to shoot down\u00a0a \u201cseemingly threatening\u201d drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said.<\/p>\n

The incident led the FAA to close the airspace around Fort Hancock, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of El Paso.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the coordination with the Department of War to help ensure public safety,\u201d the FAA said of the testing, in a separate statement. \u201cThe FAA and DOW are working with interagency partners to address emerging threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems while maintaining the safety of the National Airspace System.\u201d<\/p>\n

The military is required to formally notify the FAA when it takes any\u00a0counter-drone action\u00a0inside U.S. airspace.<\/p>\n

Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member on the Senate\u2019s Aviation Subcommittee, called previously for an independent investigation after the two February incidents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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#Pentagon #FAA #conduct #antidrone #laser #tests #earlier #closed #Texas #airspace<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pentagon and the Federal A… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[13710,15337,3035,10438,11596,7467,914,10304,4908,2422],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27033"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}