Democratic members of Congress have expressed shock and anger at what they say is the Trump administration’s incompetence after the US military used a laser on Thursday to shoot down what it thought was a menacing drone at the US-Mexico border in Texas, but which later turned out to belong to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The apparent confusion between two US government entities led to the closure of airspace around Fort Hancock, right along the border. It was the second time in two weeks that air traffic was disrupted in the region as a result of the deployment of a high-energy laser against drones.
Earlier this month, chaos descended on El Paso, a city of about 700,000 people about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Fort Hancock, when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) abruptly ordered the closure of airspace for 10 days only to lift the order eight hours later. The FAA cited “special security reasons” for the disruption, but it was later revealed that CBP had deployed a laser against what was thought to be a Mexican drug cartel drone but was actually a party balloon.
The second incident in as many weeks occurred Thursday when the military took action against what it said was an “apparently threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace.” The laser-based anti-drone system was activated, the Pentagon said, “far from populated areas and there were no commercial aircraft in the vicinity.”
But top Democratic members of Congress who were briefed on the incident were furious at what they said was a continued lack of coordination within the Trump administration. U.S. Representatives Rick Larsen, Bennie Thompson and André Carson said “our heads are exploding with the news.”
They accused the administration of “circumventing” a bipartisan bill that would have improved training for drone operators and increased coordination between the FAA, Pentagon and CBP. “We are now seeing the results of their incompetence,” the trio said.
The ranking Democratic member on the Senate aviation subcommittee, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, has called for an independent investigation into the two recent anti-drone incidents. “The incompetence of the Trump administration continues to cause chaos in our skies,” the senator said.
The airspace that has been closed is located across the US-Mexico border from the Juarez Valley. The El Paso Times said the area was known as a border smuggling corridor linked to the Sinaloa drug cartel.
The new restrictions on airspace around Fort Hancock will remain in effect until June 24, according to the FAA notice.
There appeared to be ongoing disagreements between government agencies over how to handle the use of anti-drone lasers. The systems deploy high-powered laser beams to disable the machines.
The FAA is pushing for a safety review of the technology and wants all testing suspended until it is completed. But Reuters reports that the Pentagon and CBP have indicated to congressional aides that they believe they can use the laser systems without first consulting the FAA.
