U.S. Military Uses Laser to Down Three Cartel-Linked Drones Near the Rio Grande Valley

The Joint Task Force – Southern Border (JTF-SB), created in March 2025, conducts tens of thousands of detection and monitoring patrols and thousands of observation flights along the 1,900-mile U.S.–Mexico border. The task force supports U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. military personnel stationed in the region, a deployment that now includes roughly 8,000 troops. Cartel-operated unmanned aerial systems have increasingly been used to transport narcotics, drop explosives, and conduct surveillance of U.S. law-enforcement activities.

The HinduThe Jerusalem PostThe IndependentUnited Press International (UPI)NOTUSUS military shoots down “cartel-linked” drones with high-energy laser Business Insider

The laser strikes were carried out from the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. Neither the North American Aerospace Defense Command nor U.S. Northern Command disclosed the precise coordinates of the engagements, nor clarified whether the drones were over U.S. or Mexican airspace.

The Jerusalem Post

• The joint statement from North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command described the drones as presenting a “physical threat” to U.S. military and CBP personnel.

United Press International (UPI)

• A U.S.

The Hindu

• Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that any unilateral U.S.

The Independent

• Number of drones neutralized: 3

NOTUS

• Dates of engagement: August 25–26 2026 (late Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning)

The Hindu

• Laser system: Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL), a mobile directed-energy platform mounted on a vehicle.

Business Insider

• Manufacturer (not confirmed in the operation): AeroVironment Inc delivered its first two multi-purpose high-energy lasers to the U.S. Army last summer and previously supplied the LOCUST system, which caused a seven-hour airspace shutdown near El Paso International Airport earlier in 2026.

The Jerusalem Post

Sources agree that the laser was used to disable three drones, but they differ on the exact location of the strikes. The statements from U.S. commands omit whether the engagement occurred in U.S. or Mexican airspace, while Mexican officials emphasize the sovereignty issue. No cartel affiliation for the drones was disclosed, and the specific model of the laser system remains unnamed in official releases.

The Hindu

The operation demonstrates the U.S. military’s willingness to employ directed-energy weapons in a law-enforcement context, signaling an escalation in counter-drone capabilities along the border. By publicly linking the laser use to “hostile surveillance,” the Pentagon underscores a policy shift toward non-kinetic, precision tools for neutralizing illicit aerial threats. The incident also raises diplomatic sensitivities, given Mexico’s objection to unilateral actions on its territory.

NOTUS

• “Cartel networks are increasingly employing unmanned aircraft systems to facilitate illicit human-smuggling and actively spy on our personnel and law enforcement partners,” — Major General Curtis Taylor, the commander of Joint Task Force–Southern Border

The Jerusalem Post