Pentagon Shoots Down DHS Drone With Laser

The Pentagon just zapped the wrong drone, again. Defense officials on Thursday used a high-energy laser to bring down a "seemingly threatening" drone that turned out to belong to Homeland Security above Fort Hancock, Texas, forcing the FAA to briefly close airspace below 18,000 feet, multiple people familiar with the incident tell the New York Times. It closely mirrors a mishap earlier this month near El Paso, when border officials using the same military-provided system blasted a metallic balloon they thought was a drug-cartel drone, prompting a short-lived flight restriction. The AP notes that Thursday's closure wasn't as wide-ranging as the previous one and didn't impact commercial air travel.

In both cases, the lasers were fired without the FAA's OK, a move that aviation safety experts say likely runs afoul of federal law, and that Democratic lawmakers in both chambers are blasting as a coordination failure between the powerful agencies, per the Times. A preliminary internal report says Customs and Border Protection never told the Pentagon it was flying a drone, so the military treated it as an unidentified craft. The Pentagon, DHS, and FAA issued a joint statement insisting they're "working together," even as Democrats call for inspectors general to investigate and push legislation to tighten training and communication around counter-drone operations.