A Soldier with the 211th Military Police Battalion, assigned to Joint Task Force - Southern Border, stands watch at a southern border detection and monitoring site in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 11. (U.S. Army Courtesy Photo)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s southern border task force revealed that it shot down three “hostile” drones there, using what AeroVironment (AV) said was one of its directed energy systems.
According to a release from the Joint Task Force – Southern Border (JTF-SB) posted Thursday night, task force personnel used an Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) system to “engage and defeat three hostile UAS,” which posed a “physical threat” to US military personnel and US Customs and Border Patrol members. The release did not disclose exactly where the drones were engaged or who was suspected of flying them, but suggested they could have been used for reconnaissance by a drug cartel.
“Cartel networks are increasingly employing unmanned aircraft systems to facilitate illicit human-smuggling and actively spy on our personnel and law enforcement partners. By integrating layered countermeasures alongside advanced directed-energy capabilities like this laser system, we have made it clear that we will not tolerate hostile surveillance,” Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of JTF-SB, said in a release.
