\n
<\/p>\n
The U.S.military is paving the way for the regular deployment of high-energy laser weapons on American soil for air defense amid the expanding threat of low-cost weaponized drones.<\/p>\n
The Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S.Defense Department have reached a \u201clandmark safety agreement\u201d regarding the use of laser weapons to counter unauthorized drones at the U.S.-Mexico border following a safety assessment that concluded such countermeasures \u201cdo not pose undue risk to passenger aircraft,\u201d the FAA announced<\/a> on April 10.<\/p>\n The assessment and resulting agreement were the direct result of two laser<\/a> incidents<\/a> along the southern border of Texas in February, which prompted the FAA to abruptly close nearby airspace amid concerns over the potential impact on civilian air traffic. The incidents involved the U.S.Army\u2019s 20 kilowatt Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL), a vehicle-mounted version of defense contractor AV\u2019s LOCUST Laser Weapon System.<\/p>\n In the first incident, U.S.Customs and Border Patrol personnel used an AMP-HEL on loan from the Pentagon to engage an unidentified target near Fort Bliss, triggering<\/a> an airspace shutdown above El Paso on February 11. In the second, U.S.military personnel used an AMP-HEL near Fort Hancock to neutralize<\/a> a \u201cseemingly threatening\u201d drone that turned out to belong to CBP, spurring another shutdown on February 27.<\/p>\n \u201cFollowing a thorough, data-informed Safety Risk Assessment, we determined that these systems do not present an increased risk to the flying public,\u201d FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said<\/a> in a statement. \u201cWe will continue working with our interagency partners to ensure the National Airspace System remains safe while addressing emerging drone threats.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cfirst of its kind\u201d<\/a> safety assessment, conducted in early March by the FAA and the Pentagon\u2019s Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) counter-drone organization at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, reportedly yielded<\/a> two significant conclusions: 1) the LOCUST\u2019s automatic shutoff mechanism will consistently prohibit the system from firing under unsafe circumstances, a point that AV executives have emphasized in recent weeks<\/a>, and 2) in the event of a system failure, the laser beam itself cannot inflict catastrophic damage even on aircraft flying at its maximum effective range, let alone those at cruising altitudes.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how Aaron Westman, AV senior director for business development, described the LOCUST\u2019s safety protocols in a company blog post <\/a>on March 23:<\/p>\n Every time an operator presses the \u201cfire\u201d button, the system runs through a series of automated checks. Some examples include:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Each of these checks acts as a safety \u201cvote.\u201d<\/p>\n If any subsystem registers a \u201cno vote,\u201d the laser simply will not fire. An operator can press the trigger\u2014and nothing happens. The system refuses to engage until all conditions are verified as safe.<\/p>\n These automated safeguards are built into both the hardware and the software of the system.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Here\u2019s how DefenseScoop<\/em> described<\/a> the LOCUST\u2019s potential effects on passing airframes based on an account from Army Col. Scott McLellan, JIATF-401 deputy director, of the testing at White Sands:<\/p>\n McLellan said the evaluation involved \u201clocalized\u201d firing of the AMP-HEL from various distances at the fuselage of a Boeing 767 airliner that testers lugged on to White Sands to assess the system\u2019s damaging effects, \u201cor lack thereof\u201d on aircraft material. He said it aimed to \u201cdisprove some myths\u201d about the capability, noting \u201cthat energy clearly dissipates over time and space and doesn\u2019t have the effect everyone thinks it does as far as lasers are concerned.\u201d As drone warfare spreads beyond distant conflicts, laser weapons are an increasingly attractive domestic countermeasure. While kinetic interceptors and electronic warfare may be considered suitable for chaotic battlefields, their potential for collateral effects makes them far too risky for consistent domestic applications. And even if collateral damage wasn\u2019t a concern, expending expensive missiles on the 1,000 cartel-operated drones<\/a> that cross the border with Mexico monthly is economically unsustainable, especially for a Pentagon that\u2019s already rapidly burning through munitions as part of Operation Epic Fury against Iran. On paper, the argument seems obvious: why not save those critical interceptors for high-end threats overseas and let domestic laser emplacements<\/a>, with their deep magazines and minimal cost-per-shot<\/a>, pull counter-drone duty at home?<\/p>\n Using laser weapons for domestic air defense wouldn\u2019t be unprecedented. France deployed<\/a> two 2 kw High Energy Laser for Multiple Applications \u2013 Power (HELMA-P) systems to secure the airspace over the country\u2019s \u00cele-de-France region during the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. This past September, China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army deployed<\/a> several laser weapons across Beijing during a major military parade marking the 80th anniversary of Japan\u2019s defeat at the end of World War II. As of January, the UK Ministry of Defense was reportedly drawing up plans<\/a> to build a domestic laser screen, albeit composed of lower-power laser dazzlers, to protect military installations and other critical infrastructure. The Pentagon has even already considered<\/a> laser weapons to reinforce the airspace above Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2019s residences at Fort McNair in Washington DC following a series of unauthorized drone incursions there.<\/p>\n Indeed, there\u2019s a distinct possibility that laser weapons could see increasing domestic applications amid the U.S.military\u2019s growing appetite for novel drone defenses. On April 2, JIATF-401 announced<\/a> that it had funneled $20 million in counter-drone systems<\/a> like the Dronebuster EW handset<\/a> and Smart Shooter computerized riflescope<\/a> to the U.S.-Mexico border in just four months. Days later, the task force announced<\/a> $100 million to enhance counter-drone capabilities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup starting in June \u201cto protect stadiums and fan zones in 11 cities across nine states,\u201d part of larger $600 million surge in counter-drone systems that also allocated $158 million to \u201cdefend the nation\u2019s highest-priority defense critical infrastructure.\u201d With the Pentagon asking for<\/a> $580 million in R&D funding just for JIATF-401 in its fiscal year 2027 budget request (and potentially $800 million in procurement cash), the task force appears poised to explore any and all possible solutions to the drone problem\u2014and operationally, the FAA-Pentagon safety agreement helps establish laser weapons as a viable option.<\/p>\n That said, the safety agreement on its own is unlikely to open the floodgates for a sudden spate of laser weapon deployments along the U.S.-Mexico border, let alone for major events like the World Cup or critical infrastructure just yet. First, the agreement doesn\u2019t appear to clarify who has final say in authorizing a laser engagement when U.S.military, CBP, and FAA jurisdictions overlap\u2014the precise ambiguity that yielded February\u2019s airspace closures and, until resolved, will complicate future engagements during a fast-moving crisis. Second, the U.S.military\u2019s arsenal of operational laser weapons<\/a> is currently limited<\/a> despite a stated goal of rapidly fielding new systems at scale within three years<\/a>. Even with clear plans to surge directed energy research and development for homeland defense<\/a> under President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cGolden Dome for America\u201d missile shield, the age of sleek beam directors quietly standing watch along the U.S.-Mexico border remains a long way off.<\/p>\n The FAA agreement may end up laying the foundation for a true domestic laser air defense architecture\u2014a \u201cLaser Dome\u201d in all but name. Whether the U.S.military actually builds it, however, will depend not just the Pentagon\u2019s promise to deploy laser weapons at scale, but whether Washington can finally sort out who\u2019s in charge when a beam crosses into civilian airspace.<\/p>\n This article is republished with permission from\u00a0<\/em>Laser Wars<\/a>, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
A JIATF 401 spokesperson said the laser was fired at its \u201cmaximum effective range for up to 8 seconds\u201d at the grounded fuselage, \u201cdemonstrating that even at full intensity, the laser caused no structural damage to the aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n