U.S. Troops Use Laser on Cartel Drones
PHOTO CAPTION: Joint Task Force–Southern Border personnel use the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser system to engage a hostile drone near the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 25, 2026. U.S. forces said three hostile drones were defeated during operations spanning Aug. 25 and 26. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel Huerta)
U.S. troops used a high-energy laser to shoot down three hostile drones near the southern border this week in an operation the military says was aimed at protecting American service members and Customs and Border Protection personnel.
Joint Task Force–Southern Border said personnel used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser, or AMP-HEL, during operations spanning the late-night hours of Aug. 25 and 26.
The three unmanned aircraft were determined to be hostile because they were being used in direct support of activities posing a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and CBP partners, according to U.S. Northern Command.
The military did not publicly identify the precise location of the engagements or which criminal organizations were believed to be operating the drones.
Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of Joint Task Force–Southern Border, said cartel networks are increasingly using unmanned aircraft to assist human-smuggling operations and conduct surveillance of U.S. troops and law enforcement personnel.
“The successful defeat of these adversarial drones is a direct testament to the readiness, vigilance, and technological edge of the JTF,” Taylor said.
He said the task force is combining layered counter-drone defenses with directed-energy systems such as the laser to counter hostile surveillance along the border.
The engagement represents an operational use of a weapon technology that for years was largely associated with military testing and experimentation.
An Army photograph released with the announcement shows Joint Task Force personnel operating the laser system during the Aug. 25 engagement of one of the hostile drones.
Approximately 8,000 U.S. service members are currently deployed under Joint Task Force–Southern Border across the roughly 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border.
Since assuming the mission in March 2025, the task force says troops have reinforced hundreds of miles of the border with wire obstacles, conducted tens of thousands of detection and monitoring patrols, flown thousands of observation missions and cleared vegetation in remote areas to improve surveillance.
Those operations are conducted in support of federal law-enforcement agencies, including Customs and Border Protection.
The military has also increasingly focused on the drone threat along the border as criminal organizations use inexpensive unmanned aircraft for surveillance and smuggling operations.
Earlier this year, the Army said as many as 1,000 cartel-linked drones could cross the border each month for missions ranging from intelligence and surveillance to drug smuggling.
This week's engagement marks a rare publicly disclosed instance of U.S. forces using a high-energy laser against drones identified as actively supporting a threat to American personnel.
Sources: U.S. Northern Command; Joint Task Force–Southern Border; U.S. Army
(Source: OAF Nation)
