What to know about the counter drone technology that triggered the closure of the El Paso airspace

The government’s ability to deal with drones that pose a threat on U.S. soil was called into question this week after the use of a laser designed to shoot down drones near the Texas border led to the abrupt closure of airspace over El Paso, sources familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The exact details of what happened before the Federal Aviation Administration closed the Mexican border city’s busy airport on Wednesday aren’t entirely clear, but a source familiar with the matter told AP that the laser was deployed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection without coordination with the FAA.

Two months ago, Congress agreed to give more law enforcement agencies the authority to shoot down rogue drones provided they are properly trained. That could make situations like El Paso’s more likely. Previously, only a few select federal agencies had this authority.

Here’s a look at what happened and the issues that were raised:

The government said only that the airspace was closed when a Mexican drug cartel drone incursion was neutralized.

But the two people who discussed sensitive details on condition of anonymity said the FAA grounded all planes in the El Paso area because of concerns about the safety of the laser system used near commercial planes. The restrictions were initially scheduled to last 10 days, but were lifted a few hours later.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Friday that government agencies involved in El Paso were working to address concerns that led to more than a dozen flights being canceled and travelers fleeing.

“This is a joint agency task force mission that has been undertaken and we continue to work on communication through this,” Noem said in Arizona.

But drone warfare expert Brett Velicovich said the dysfunction in Texas raises questions about whether the United States will be prepared to deal with a significant drone threat.

“We need to make it simpler for authorities to determine who is actually responsible and weed out these egos from these different agencies before an American is harmed,” said Velicovich, who founded drone maker Power.us and consults on ways to mitigate their threats.

Armed drones carry out devastating attacks in Ukraine every day. Unmanned vehicles have also allowed Ukraine to strike deep into Russia.

Velicovich, who used Predator drones in the military to bomb targets, said it wouldn’t be difficult for someone with malicious intentions to buy a drone for a few hundred dollars and do a lot of harm during a major public event like a World Cup match or America’s 250th birthday celebrations planned for this summer.

Cartels regularly use drones to deliver drugs to the Mexican border and surveil Border Patrol agents. Officials told Congress last summer that more than 27,000 drones were detected within 500 yards of the southern border in the last six months of 2024.

The government recently awarded $250 million in grants to the 11 states that will host World Cup matches this summer to help them prepare for the drone threat. An additional $250 million in grants will be awarded later this year to strengthen the nation’s defenses against drones.

The threat posed by drones to aircraft continues to rise, along with the number of near misses around airports. Homeland Security estimates there are more than 1.7 million registered drones flying in the United States, and that number is growing.

Larger drones must be equipped with a radio transponder that identifies the drone’s owner and broadcasts its location to help avoid collisions. Cities can also invest in additional sensors around stadiums to quickly detect drones.

Airspace Link, a Detroit company, has created a low-altitude air traffic control system to track drones and alert authorities who may soon be able to take action. Cities can purchase additional sensors to improve this system around stadiums or other prestigious locations.

“We don’t want anything to happen,” CEO Michael Healander said. “But we also want to be prepared to have the tools to act, because these are global events of such magnitude. »

Common anti-drone systems use radio signals to jam or force drones to land. But the government has also developed high-powered microwaves or laser beams, like those sources say were used in Texas this week, capable of disabling machines.

Some other systems park small drones to quickly take flight and strike drones considered a threat. And there are systems that use bullets to shoot down drones.

Michael Robbins, president and CEO of the trade group Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, said such counter-drone systems are more common in war zones than in the United States. But the government is working to put them in the hands of more officers across the country.

“We are confident that this is an important technology that, when used responsibly, with proper oversight and intensive training, will help mitigate dangerous or rogue drones in the very rare event that it must occur,” Robbins said.

Allied Pilots Association union spokesman Capt. Dennis Tajer said he wasn’t sure how big a threat counter-drone technology poses to the American Airlines planes he flies because so few details have been released about what happened in Texas. And Homeland Security and FAA officials did not respond to further questions about it Friday.

Tajer said he was more concerned about the possibility of an airliner hitting a drone, because that could bring down the plane. A year ago, 67 people were killed when an American Airlines plane collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, DC.

“You don’t have to be a pilot, engineer or defense expert to understand that two pieces of metal in the sky where one doesn’t know the other is there and are uncontrolled are dangerous,” Tajer said. “We need to keep these two pieces of metal away from each other.”

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Associated Press writer Josh Kelety contributed from Scottsdale, Arizona.