Lasers down 11 cartel drones along southern border, US military says
The Army’s high-energy laser has become a cheaper countermeasure as officials report more than 300 drone defeats this year.
- Northern Command forces downed 11 cartel-linked drones last week using the Army Multipurpose High-Energy Laser system in the Rio Grande Valley, with officials assessing the unmanned systems as associated with illicit activity.
- Criminal groups across Latin America use inexpensive commercial drones costing $600 to $1,200 for surveillance and drug trafficking, with more than 27,000 incursions reported near the southern border in 2024.
- About 8,000 service members assigned to Joint Task Force-Southern Border have downed more than 300 drones since 2026 began using "kinetic and non-kinetic systems", while Northern Command characterized targeted drones as "hostile" for threatening personnel.
- Mexico's Defense Ministry reports maintaining "mirror operations" since February 2025 to disrupt trafficking, though the mistaken downing of a CBP drone near Fort Hancock raised coordination concerns between military and federal agencies.
- Sociologist Rodrigo Peña notes that technological innovation challenges traditional ideas of state authority, as President Claudia Sheinbaum warned any unilateral U.S. action on Mexican soil would breach sovereignty.
124 Articles
124 Articles
Military sees early success using lasers to take down drones at Mexican border
U.S. military officials have seen a 75% decline in Mexican drone sightings at the U.S.-Mexico border in the two weeks since debuting a high-energy laser weapon system to disable the small unmanned aerial systems, according to a new report. Military stationed at the border in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas used a new […]
By Sol Amaya, CNN en Español The Mexican authorities announced Monday the activation of an operation against drug trafficking drones in conjunction with the United States on the border between Tijuana and San Diego.The Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) said the operation, called ‘Águila Alta’, aims to “detect and combat
Drone Activity On The Southern Border Appears To Plummet After U.S. Forces Use Laser Weapons To Take Them Down
Since the U.S. military has begun using laser weapons systems to target suspicious drones along the southern border, drone activity in the area has dropped by as much as 75 percent, according to a report.
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