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Posted on 02/26/2026 7:34:29 PM PST by Miami Rebel
The U.S. military shot down a Customs and Homeland Security drone on Thursday evening, which led to the abrupt closure of airspace over Fort Hancock, Texas, lawmakers said.
At 6:30 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration closed the airspace, citing “special security reasons.” The FAA’s official notice of the closure currently says the closure will remain in effect until June 24.
As it turns out, the “special security reasons” involved a friendly fire incident in which the U.S. military shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a laser-based anti-drone system.
Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, and other Democratic lawmakers on the panel said they were informed of the incident through official channels.
“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,” Larsen and the other Democrats said in a statement. “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.”
The FAA noted that some airspace over Fort Hancock was already closed, and that the no-fly area was expanded after the military shot down the DHS drone.
On Feb. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration cryptically and suddenly announced the immediate closure of airspace over El Paso for, again, “special security reasons.” An anonymous Trump administration official told NBC News that “Mexican cartel drones” had breached U.S. airspace. However, CBS News reported that the closure was due to “disagreements over drone-related tests.”
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Shite happens
Try using words and arguments. You seem very emotional. Your Tourette’s is of no use here, and changes nobody into seeing your point.
[ Insert “Keystone Cops” picture ]
I hope it was one of CPB’s smaller “sUAS” drones, otherwise it was an MQ-9 and another $30 million is added to the national debt. (Due to bad DOW operational planning).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper#U.S._Homeland_Security
Detected drone
Destroyed ditto
DHS is currently unfunded; which I assume means operating w/”essential personnel” only due to current government shutdown. I wonder if that was a factor?
Could’ve been worse.
The 3 Best Manned Drones of 2025 – Ultimate Pilot’s Guide & Reviews
https://dronecinemaacademy.com/best-manned-drone/
I mentioned that when I was working at BAE, circa 2122, the group I was working with, though I was not involved, showed a video of a kinetic anti-drone system they were working on. It was like shooting skeet. “Pull”, drone enters feild of view, “BLAM’, no more drone. They had a laser system, but could not demonstrate it for range safety reasons, because it was a hazard to aviation five miles down range.
You're from the future? 😮
J/K :-)
Good point.
So the test was successful?
No, the fat-finger here and now. My BAE years were 2021-2023, so I was hesitant about 2021 or 2022, and fumbled. The same group had outfitted a Bradley fighting vehicle with a system that could detect and hit an RPG, by slewing its turret in real time. The problem was that that was all it could do. It was way too expensive as a counter-RPG decoy, and could be defeated by saturation.
Definite Charlie Foxtrot...
El Paso incident indicate an urgent need for tighter coordination between various agencies.
BINGO
But some ego hacks want to get their name on somethig for the next election.
All these inventions sound amazing. I’m wondering... Does the U.S. now have the kinetic anti-drone system you described? Or, is it still in development?
If the drone had been destroyed with that system, could the airspace have remained open? /just an honest question
Just what kind of a drone was this?
And what was it’s cost?
I talked to a insurance damage inspector who used drones to look over burned buildings, etc.
He used about a $400 drone and said he sometimes lost them.
He considered them a ‘disposable’ item.
I do not know, but very likely that WAS the system that brought down the drone. It may even have been a pre-arranged stunt to discourage people, especially people from certain Eurasian countries, from flying drones around U.S. bases. Hesgeth has to stones to pull it off.
We currently have several varieties of “counter-drone drones” judging from open source information provided by drone builders selling to DHS, War Department, state and local goverments, the private sector, and some of our allies. The list of players is long and growing fast.
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