An American laser weapon successfully defended US soil from an incursion by a US drone in the volatile border region of Texas on Thursday, leading the FAA to close local airspace, the AP reports.
“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” Dem Congressman Rick Larsen, ranking member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee wrote. “We said months ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS and the FAA was a short-sighted idea. Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence.”