The Pentagon is moving toward wider use of laser-based counter-drone systems at select US locations as concerns mount over repeated drone incursions near military installations and other high-priority sites.
A local television report in South Florida said a counter-drone system that includes a direct-energy weapon has been set up near Palm Beach International Airport to help protect President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and the surrounding airspace. But officials have not publicly identified the exact equipment in use there.
Officials in Washington are weighing whether to bring similar defenses to the capital after unidentified drones were spotted over Fort Lesley J. McNair, the Army installation where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been staying.
The capital’s airspace is among the most crowded and tightly controlled in the country, and any laser-based counter-drone system would operate near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The same questions about how such a system could be used safely near civil air traffic also apply in the Palm Beach area.
In one February incident near El Paso, Texas, airspace was disrupted after officials suspected a drone, with later reporting indicating the object may have been harmless party balloons. In a separate incident near Fort Hancock later that month, the military reportedly mistakenly shot down a US government drone using a laser-based counter-drone system.
Recent drone incidents at other US bases have added urgency. ABC News reported that between March 9 and March 15, security forces at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana observed multiple waves of 12 to 15 drones over areas including the flight line. The report said the drones showed non-commercial signal characteristics, long-range control links and resistance to jamming.
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