This week, the US military used a laser to shoot down three drones along the US-Mexico border that were allegedly operated by drug cartels, the Pentagon said Thursday. The three unmanned aircraft systems were shot down late Tuesday and early Wednesday using a “military high-energy multipurpose laser system,” according to U.S. Northern Command, responsible for overseeing certain military defense operations in North America. The drones were shot down by the US military’s Southern Border Joint Task Force, a unit of USNORTHCOM, which did not specify exactly where the drones were shot down or which cartels they were believed to belong to. No details about the operation were provided. A U.S. Army high-energy multipurpose laser system is used to shoot down a drone along the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 25, 2026. Photo/U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Huerta When asked if the drones were shot down over U.S. or Mexican airspace, a USNORTHCOM spokesperson told CBS News that “the shots were taken in coordination with all partners operating along the border. Due to reasons security operations and ongoing operations against cartels and drones, we have no additional details to provide at this time. “Cartel networks are increasingly employing drone systems to facilitate illicit human trafficking and actively spy on our personnel and law enforcement partners,” Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of Joint Task Force Southern Border, said in a statement. “By integrating layered countermeasures along with advanced directed energy capabilities like this laser system, we have made it clear that we will not tolerate hostile surveillance.” In February, a U.S. military laser accidentally shot down a U.S. Customs and Border Protection drone in the Fort Hancock area of southwest Texas. And earlier that same month, the Federal Aviation Administration briefly closed commercial airspace around El Paso following a internal security disagreement between the FAA and the Pentagon over military drone testing being conducted near Fort Bliss that sources said involved a high-energy laser system. At the time, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA and the Department of Defense had “acted quickly to address a cartel drone incursion” and that “the threat has become normalized.” Austin Doctor, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and director of strategic initiatives at the National Center for Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education, told CBS News in February that cartels primarily use drones near the border for surveillance purposes “to support their other illegal criminal activities, including narcotics smuggling, human smuggling, firearms and other illicit goods.” inside Mexico to attack rival cartels. The Southern Border Joint Task Force, which has about 8,000 U.S. service members, was formed last year in support of President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Eleanor Watson contributed to this report. More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press in:
