Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,
The Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) agreed to conduct an anti-drone “high-energy laser test” in New Mexico over the weekend.
The announcement comes a little more than a week after the FAA had tosuddenly closeairspace around Fort Hancock, Texas, because of what the agency at the time called “special security reasons.”
The Department of War (DOW) shot what it thought was a “seemingly threatening” drone flying within military airspace, the Pentagon, the FAA, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a joint statement at the time.
A House committee stated that the FAA’s closure resulted from the Pentagon using a “high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system” to shoot down a CBP drone operating near the U.S.–Mexico border.
The incident, along with another Pentagon drone incursion the same month, faced criticism in Congress. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), the ranking Democrat member on the Senate Aviation Subcommittee, called for an independent investigation into the incidents.
Following congressional pushback, the Pentagon is now conducting anti-drone tests at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico alongside its partners at the FAA.
On March 6, the U.S. military stated that its Joint Interagency Task Force 401 and the FAA will conduct a “high-energy laser test” from March 7 through March 8.
“This upcoming event will specifically address FAA safety concerns while gathering data about the laser’s material effects on aircraft surrogates, validating the functionality of automated safety shut-off systems, and informing analyses for aircrew eye safety,” the Pentagon said in astatement.
The military stated that the test is part of a “long-term, multi-year partnership” between it and the FAA to ensure that counter-drone technology is “safely integrated into the national airspace.”It’s a continuation of previous military testing done over the past few decades, according to the Pentagon.
Source: ZeroHedge News
