Senator seeks US watchdog probe into Texas drone incidents
Source: Reuters
March 13, 2026 7:14 AM EDT Updated 5 hours ago
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee on Friday called for a government investigation into two recent incidents of the government's use of a laser-based anti-drone system in Texas.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, in a letter seen by Reuters, asked the inspector generals for the Transportation, Homeland Security and Defense departments to jointly investigate the government's use of counter-drone high-energy laser weapons. She said the Texas events near the Mexican border "raise serious questions regarding interagency coordination, notification procedures, aviation safety protocol, and compliance with federal law."
The U.S. military errantly shot down a government drone with a laser-based anti-drone system on February 25, leading the FAA to expand an area where flights are barred around Fort Hancock, Texas. The incident followed a February 18 decision by the FAA to halt all flights for 10 days at the nearby El Paso airport because of the use of the laser system by a Homeland Security agency without completion of a safety review.
The El Paso shutdown order was lifted by the FAA after about eight hours following the intervention of the White House. The Pentagon and FAA said last week that they were testing high-energy lasers in New Mexico designed to counter drones, aiming to address the FAA's safety concerns.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/senator-seeks-us-watchdog-probe-into-texas-drone-incidents-2026-03-13/