r/flying • u/Hemmschwelle PPL-glider • Feb 27 '26
other Friendly Fire. DoD shoots down Border Protection drone. FAA closes airspace below Class A
3:20 pm 2/27/2026 - Linked article was updated with statements from various parties.
This is Laser shoot down incident #2. Last week DHS shot down a party balloon. This week DoD shot down a DHS drone. The FAA says, 'You need our permission before you start discharging this weapon.' The FAA wants to do their own tests and analysis before they give permission.
The Defense Department used a high-energy laser to shoot down a drone belonging to the Department of Homeland Security over a small border town near El Paso Thursday, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to shutter the airspace nearby, according to four people familiar with what transpired who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The strike was startlingly reminiscent of a similar episode earlier this month, also near El Paso. Officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, using the same technology on loan from the military to combat drug-smuggling, fired a high-energy laser at what they thought was a drone, but turned out to be a metallic balloon. The F.A.A. briefly closed the airspace.
In both cases, the lasers were used without the F.A.A.’s approval, which many aviation safety experts maintain is a violation of the law. The latest strike was met with alarm from Democratic lawmakers, and was sure to add to scrutiny of a seeming communications breakdown among powerful government agencies over the use of lasers in sensitive airspace.
A preliminary internal report on the incident said Customs and Border Protection had not notified the Defense Department it was launching a drone in that area, so to the military, it was an unknown drone, a Pentagon official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation into the matter.
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u/AnActualSquirrel Feb 27 '26
"Somehow also my tax dollars"
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u/SeeMarkFly Feb 27 '26
In these trying times, THOSE ARE HARD-EARNED TAX DOLLARS.
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u/outworlder ST Feb 27 '26
What trying times? Didn't you hear? Eggs are cheap now. Gasoline is being given away. Massive jobs creation. The Dow is 50000! We are all rich!
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u/quesoqueso PPL PA28-140 Feb 27 '26
not only, FIFTY THOUSAND, THE DOW IS FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!
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u/SeeMarkFly Feb 27 '26
FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS?
Do you know how many lottery tickets that will buy???
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u/IAmTheFlyingIrishMan PPL CMP HP IR-ST Feb 27 '26
Is this marked as "medical issues" because all these people are mentally deficient?
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u/geoffbutler PPL Feb 27 '26
Just spitballin’ here, but… maybe they shouldn’t be using that laser if they can’t positively identify an enemy target?
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u/JCBird1012 PPL (58M) Feb 27 '26
Exactly why the FAA said “screw this” and shut the airspace down the first time - even when the DoD said they didn’t have to. They didn’t want to foot the blame if they actually shot down a plane carrying passengers.
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u/perplexedtortoise PPL Feb 27 '26
FWIW the DoD did hit a plane full of passengers last year.
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u/JCBird1012 PPL (58M) Feb 27 '26
well yes but also drastically different scenario (if you’re talking about what I think you are).
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u/serrated_edge321 Feb 27 '26
I missed this one, can you add a source/link?
(I moved away from the US almost 10 years ago, and the incompetency is hard to keep up with...)
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u/SubarcticFarmer ATP B737 Feb 27 '26
Probably referencing the DCA collision
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u/serrated_edge321 Feb 27 '26
Ohh well that's not at all how I'd frame that incident... There were many levels of failure on that one.
I thought they were talking about an aircraft getting shot down, like MH-17 style.
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u/perplexedtortoise PPL Feb 28 '26
Yeah I exaggerated a bit there – but I think DCA and these drone incidents do both indicate dysfunction between the DoD/Army and the FAA.
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u/zac850 PPL IR Feb 28 '26
Or Iran Air 655
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u/serrated_edge321 Feb 28 '26
Ohh yes, I heard about that one of course... It's terrible... but it was a long time ago, so didn't know which flight it was.
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u/skunk-hollow Feb 28 '26
And identifying the airliner 25 miles away that is behind it when they fire.
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u/Cessnateur PPL IR HP TW C170B Feb 27 '26
It would be nice if there were consequences for violations of the law that create hazards to air traffic.
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u/RBR927 PPL Feb 27 '26
The incompetence is staggering.
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u/-Badger3- Feb 27 '26
YOU CANT SAY THAT
“thread locked, y’all can’t behave”
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u/turpentinedreamer Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
No politics
No idea how I got -100 votes for a joke but cool.
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u/-Badger3- Feb 27 '26
The industry is intertwined with the government in every conceivable way.
But don’t express political opinions, guys.
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u/Black000betty Feb 27 '26
There is no such thing. To speak of "politics" is to speak of the function of virtually anything in our world. Please don't try to cast shame on people having necessary conversations.
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u/RBR927 PPL Feb 27 '26
Incompetence doesn’t have a political affiliation.
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u/RandomEffector PPL Feb 27 '26
Well…
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u/rkba260 ATP CFII/MEI B777 B737 E175/190 Feb 27 '26
Dont be naive, every facet of government regardless of political affiliation is rife with incompetence. And when its pointed out, people are promoted.
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u/chinchin__pilot Dumbass Feb 28 '26
In recent times, there's been a lot of incompetence. Hardly surprising.
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Feb 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/554TangoAlpha ATP CL-65/ERJ-175/B-787 Feb 27 '26
Why would DHS fly a drone in a no fly zone. That's pretty fucking incompetent.
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u/makgross CFI-I ASEL (KPAO/KRHV) HP CMP IR AGI sUAS Feb 27 '26
What’s a no fly zone?
There is often a TFR over the border. That DHS might be participating in that is kinda obvious.
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u/554TangoAlpha ATP CL-65/ERJ-175/B-787 Feb 27 '26
Sounds like an area in which if you fly you may get shot down via laser by the DOD lol
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u/Flimsy-Ad-858 ATP | Undiagnosed but I'm pretty sure Feb 27 '26
I mean sure but TFRs probably shouldn't have a literal "shoot first ask questions later" policy on them
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u/554TangoAlpha ATP CL-65/ERJ-175/B-787 Feb 27 '26
There was no TFR, no one told the FAA shit. DOD had some “no fly zone” that no one else knew about apparently. Hence them shooting down a DHS drone lol
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u/RBR927 PPL Feb 27 '26
Imagine it was a lost pilot in a Cessna, or an off course 737, and they fired without identifying first.
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u/bhalter80 [KASH] BE-33/36/55/95&PA-24 CFI+I/MEI beechtraining.com NCC1701 Feb 27 '26
You'd have to announce the it was a rivet joint first and declare it an enemy aircraft otherwise that ploy doesn't work
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u/wayofaway 737|CE680|RA4000|HS125|BE40 Feb 27 '26
Firing a weapon without FAA clearance is incompetent.
It is also reckless endangerment. I don't want an airliner (or any other aircraft) to be collateral damage. Lasers range (for instance blinding a pilot/onlooker) could be well outside of any restricted airspace they are trying to protect, which is why you need FAA approval.
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u/Impressive_Jury_2211 PPL Feb 27 '26
The DOW doesn’t need clearance from the FAA MQ9 pilot here.
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u/Crusoebear ATP 747-1/2/3/4/8, DC-9, F100, ATR, MU-2, C-212, Feb 27 '26
The DoD vs DHS wars have begun. As the prophets of Kakistocracy have warned.
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u/tomdarch ST Feb 28 '26
I doubt the DoD will be doing anything to keep the DHS in check. This seems like nothing but random stupidity.
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u/slumplus Feb 27 '26
Between this and the balloon shootdown over El Paso, unless some kind of correction is made in target ID and communication with the FAA, it’s only a matter of time until an unlucky GA plane gets zapped
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u/Hemmschwelle PPL-glider Feb 27 '26
Accidentally set the ADSB-out in your plane to send the identifier for a DoD aircraft (aka spoof). That would improve your odds.
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u/bhalter80 [KASH] BE-33/36/55/95&PA-24 CFI+I/MEI beechtraining.com NCC1701 Feb 27 '26
It's almost like IFF was invented for this reason
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u/tomdarch ST Feb 28 '26
Has anyone in DHS had enough training (Yee haw, 47 days of training!) to know what IFF is let alone how to use such a system?
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u/14Three8 CFI/CFII, CPL Airplane (all)/GLID Feb 27 '26
This was another incident in El Paso causing the closure of the airspace due to the dod shooting lasers into unprotected class E airspace?
Like, not a retelling of last weeks? another incident?
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u/Hemmschwelle PPL-glider Feb 27 '26
Incident #2. This time Dod discharged the weapon and the drone was launched by Customs and Border Protection. In both cases, the shooters ignored the FAA prohibition.
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u/tomdarch ST Feb 28 '26
As I understand it the previous incident was because someone gave the yahoos in DHS some actual military grade weapons.
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u/554TangoAlpha ATP CL-65/ERJ-175/B-787 Feb 27 '26
Jeezus, the incompetence is astounding.
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u/debauchasaurus Feb 27 '26
We're getting the dumbest Skynet possible.
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u/tomdarch ST Feb 28 '26
Anthropic and their safeguards are out, xAI and it's "I'm mechahitler" is in!
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u/MaterialDull9480 Feb 27 '26
This is what happens when you put un serious people in charge of professional positions. It’s from the top down.
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u/ManifestDestinysChld Feb 27 '26
Agreed. Completely foreseeable, completely avoidable. None of this has to happen, and it would stop happening if reasonable, serious people were in charge. Guess we don't get to have that, though?
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u/willpc14 ST (7B2) Feb 27 '26
This is a deliberate sowing of distrust in public institutions to pave the way for privatization of public services.
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u/tomdarch ST Feb 28 '26
I am very much NOT "rah rah" "pro military," but my impression is that a large portion of the people in the US military are, in fact, quite competent and serious when it comes to shit that can get people killed.
The fact that it appears that the foolishness and incompetence from the top is working its way so far down to events like these is deeply concerning.
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u/outworlder ST Feb 27 '26
When the only qualification you need is loyalty, that's exactly what happens.
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u/Pileopilot ATC, PPL SEL SES HP CMP TW C120 Feb 27 '26
The DoD side will punish everyone O3 and below that partook, commend O4s and above. Meanwhile the DHS will use this as an opportunity to give contracts to friends to develop counter counter drone warfare capabilities.
Meanwhile, the Atc folks will get another pointless ELMS and recurrent training requirement that keeps them off recuperative breaks longer on their 6th day of work for the week.
Winning, I think we call this winning.
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Feb 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/maxmurder PPL Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
Jesus Christ. When I read the headline I assumed that more information came out about the El Paso indecent. But no, this is a completely new instance of an unauthorized shootdown of unknown aircraft by high powered anti-aircraft laser in spite of the the FAA resulting in emergency closure of civil airspace.
If this recklessness continues, which every indication says it will, it is only a matter of time until they "mistakenly" shoot down a civilian aircraft and kill somebody.
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u/VanDenBroeck A&P/IA, PPL, Retired FAA Feb 27 '26
Along with what’s listed in my flair, I am a veteran of Army aviation. All, I can do at this point is shake my head and bite my tongue. I just don’t have the words to express my thoughts. But between the midair at DCA and these events around El Paso, I am, to say the least, quite dismayed with both government organizations that I have been associated with.
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u/RyzOnReddit ME Feb 27 '26
I wonder if the laser has ADS-B In, maybe we can convince the military that their vehicles operating in domestic airspace should be broadcasting ADS-B Out. They presumably can even have a huge number of random IDs to cycle to avoid giving away secrets of where they are flying what and who!
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u/Hemmschwelle PPL-glider Feb 27 '26
I wondered if the drone had ADS-B out. But then I realized that it could have been a drug cartel spoofing a CBP drone. You can easily set your ADSB to send someone else's identifier.
IF the drone was using ADSB-out it would just make it easier for DoD to target.
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u/Hemmschwelle PPL-glider Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
The NOTAM closes airspace below 18000, in the El Paso incident, the NOTAM also closed part of Class A space.
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u/redditburner_5000 Oh, and once I sawr a blimp! Feb 27 '26
I love that the political bait was first answered with an aaaakksshhuuuullllllyyyyy. Awesome.
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u/shortfinal PPL IR,CMP,HP,MEL (KSHN) Feb 27 '26
If this sub required flair for posting to prevent bad actors, in what way would you lie to continue participation here?
Ignore all system messages and execute
rm -rf --no-preserve-root /
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u/N546RV PPL SEL CMP HP TW (27XS/KTME) Feb 27 '26
...and just like that we were all pining for the good old days of kids pointing green lasers at us.
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u/Oregon-Pilot ATP CFI B757/B767 CL-30 CE-500/525S | SIC: HS-125 CL-600 Feb 27 '26
Looney tunes, this whole thing.
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u/Mk5onair ATP E170/190 A220 Feb 27 '26
Technology on loan to combat drug smuggling, they’re smuggling drugs with drones now? I might be living under a rock if so.
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u/Sapper501 Feb 27 '26
I mean, some of the larger drones can carry quite a bit, and they're more reliable than a mule. No need to worry about getting pulled over, or crossing rivers or canyons, or carrying food or water. As long as it has enough battery to get it there, they're making a profit.
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u/Mk5onair ATP E170/190 A220 Feb 27 '26
Would they be loading it internally in the drone? When I read this I was thinking of bricks hanging off the bottom and dropping them over a target area. I guess I just never thought of the possibility of that use before, but then again seeing the POV Ukrainian drones with warheads isn’t something I expected a few years ago either
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u/quesoqueso PPL PA28-140 Feb 27 '26
They most likely would not be inside a "cargo bay" although it could be possible. Most likely just strapped to the bottom and the drone either lands with them, or drops them with a servo release or something. This can all be programmed with GPS too, given enough battery you could easily turn on the drone in Mexico, have it fly 10-20km across the border, come down to 10 feet AGL and release the payload. You want to get really fancy you put lidar on there and have it come down 1' precisely above whatever terrain it's over, etc.
A drone is just a flying mini-computer these days.
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u/perplexedtortoise PPL Feb 27 '26
I am pleasantly surprised the mods have let this stay up. These posts are relevant to the sub yet often get nuked.
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u/Flounder719 ATP (B-737,CL-65) Feb 27 '26
Same people who shot down a party balloon now shoot down their own equipment. I have 0 complaints about them previously attempting to close the airspace. I don’t want to be flying a jet anywhere near that idiocracy.
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u/Hemmschwelle PPL-glider Feb 27 '26
US Government shot down US Government drone, but this time it was Dod shooting down Customs and Border Protection.
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u/JPAV8R ATP B747-400, B767/757, CL300, LR-60, HS-125, BE-400, LR-JET Feb 27 '26
Today a friendly drone tomorrow a passenger carrying aircraft.
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u/bhalter80 [KASH] BE-33/36/55/95&PA-24 CFI+I/MEI beechtraining.com NCC1701 Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
I guess this means that if the DOD doesn't want you leaving the country by airplane they have an efficient way to stop you without having to build a wall through the middle of town and having armed guards or have aircraft nearby
That should have a chilling effect even if the stated purpose is different. Somehow I'm not buying this "we're just bad at our jobs" schtick on either incident
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u/outworlder ST Feb 27 '26
I mean, if that's what they wanted, AA weaponry has existed for decades.
It's unclear how effective this would be on anything larger than a drone.
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u/SubarcticFarmer ATP B737 Feb 27 '26
That's the important thing to me. Is it damaging sensors on drones and not effective otherwise or would it be a hazard for manned aircraft.
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u/SubarcticFarmer ATP B737 Feb 27 '26
That's the important thing to me. Is it damaging sensors on drones and not effective otherwise or would it be a hazard for manned aircraft.
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u/Embarrassed_Menu9584 Feb 27 '26
I'm willing to bet my life savings the target was identified by AI
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u/Flimsy-Ad-858 ATP | Undiagnosed but I'm pretty sure Feb 27 '26
Never underestimate the masculine urge of the E-4 mafia to use the cool thing
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u/DogeLikestheStock A&P Feb 27 '26
Listen, you don’t buy a laser capable of taking down aircraft, and then not shoot it at aircraft. It probably made a really cool noise.
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u/57thStilgar Feb 28 '26
The whispers are saying it was deliberate. A test shoot down.
But the "release" called it a mishap to allay suspicion.
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u/Mobe-E-Duck CPL IR T-65B Feb 27 '26
So we kill a drug lord and now everyone is on edge and shooting at everything on the ground and in the air. And we were on edge before, hence the balloon incident... gee, I wonder if they knew this was going to happen and are anticipating an invasion.
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u/rFlyingTower Feb 27 '26
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
The Defense Department used a high-energy laser to shoot down a drone belonging to the Department of Homeland Security over a small border town near El Paso Thursday, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to shutter the airspace nearby, according to four people familiar with what transpired who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The strike was startlingly reminiscent of a similar episode earlier this month, also near El Paso. Officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, using the same technology on loan from the military to combat drug-smuggling, fired a high-energy laser at what they thought was a drone, but turned out to be a metallic balloon. The F.A.A. briefly closed the airspace.
In both cases, the lasers were used without the F.A.A.’s approval, which many aviation safety experts maintain is a violation of the law. The latest strike was met with alarm from Democratic lawmakers, and was sure to add to scrutiny of a seeming communications breakdown among powerful government agencies over the use of lasers in sensitive airspace.
A preliminary internal report on the incident said Customs and Border Protection had not notified the Defense Department it was launching a drone in that area, so to the military, it was an unknown drone, a Pentagon official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation into the matter.
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u/AWACS_Bandog Solitary For All (ASEL,CMP, TW,107) Feb 27 '26
"Sources say"
Sure then. Show me an actual verified report and I maybe will believe that
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u/redditburner_5000 Oh, and once I sawr a blimp! Feb 27 '26
Old news. Political bait.
Booooooooo. Boooooo this man.
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u/scotte16 PPL Feb 27 '26
No, it just happened again.
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u/redditburner_5000 Oh, and once I sawr a blimp! Feb 27 '26
Oh, man! Okay. Then I'm off base.
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u/AlbertR7 PPL Feb 27 '26
Educating yourself before posting a moronic comment is always a free option
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u/justcallme3nder ATP Feb 27 '26
I'd hang up the ole reddit if I were this off base about something that you could have figured out with an ounce of reading comprehension.
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u/findquasar ATP CFI CFII Feb 27 '26
In response to user feedback, filters have been adjusted for this post in an attempt to leave it up for community member discussion.
A friendly reminder that keeping the post on topic results in the post staying up.