U.S. military uses laser to shoot down 3 cartel drones at southern border, Pentagon says

CBS News ^ | August 28, 2026 | Faris Tanyos

[Twotone]

The U.S. military this week used a laser to shoot down three drones along the U.S.-Mexico border that were allegedly operated by drug cartels, the Pentagon said Thursday.

The three unmanned aircraft systems were shot down late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning using an "Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser system," according to U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for overseeing certain military defense operations in North America.

The drones were downed by the U.S. military's southern border Joint Task Force, a unit of USNORTHCOM, which did not specify exactly where the drones were shot down, or which cartels they were believed to belong to. No details on the operation were provided.

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TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cartels; drones; southernborder

[LouAvul]

Star Wars, here we come.

[Red Badger]

Like shooting fish in a barrel!................

[dfwgator]

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

--- "The three unmanned aircraft systems were shot down late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning using an 'Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser system,' according to U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for overseeing certain military defense operations in North America."

While some missing detail as to how fast a recharge and repeated "shots" are made, the notion of effectively shooting down enemy/criminal drones is just nifty.

[shelterguy]

They used fricken “laser beams”? Were they attached to the heads of sharks?

[Sirius Lee]

Yawn. Wake me when we have a trillion gigawatt turbo laser capable of splitting the moon in half.

[Pontiac]

Were they attached to the heads of sharks?

Yes.

And the shark was flying around in a tornado at the time.

It was amazing to watch!

[tlozo]

U.S. military uses laser to shoot down 3 cartel drones at southern border, Pentagon says

Its about time! Drone warfare has been going on for years in Ukraine, and with the missile attacks on Israel, we have seen that a defense using missiles to shoot down missiles is expensive and can be overwhelmed.

[MrBambaLaMamba]

https://photonmatrixlab.com/

[onona]

I want it. Just for the light show !

[VanShuyten]

I bet the laser light shows from the new Trump Ballroom will be spectacular!

[telescope115]

😂😎

[dfwgator]

They used fricken “laser beams”? Were they attached to the heads of sharks?

---

Ill-tempered sea bass.

[null and void]

Q: How do you catch bass?

A: With a treble hook.

[Night Hides Not]

A: With a treble hook.

LOL, make sure the power is cranked up to 11.

[telescope115]

I didn’t know those existed. Must be fun to sit outside in the dark and watch bugs get shot down!

A Home Defense version that would zap someone coming in a window would be neat.

[NorthMountain]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the troops painting sharks on their LASER weapons.

[dfwgator]

[Pearls Before Swine]

“Testing, 1.. 2... 3... Zzzapp!”