U.S. Military Uses an Army Laser to Shoot Down Three Cartel Drones at the Texas Border

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command said on Aug. 27, 2026 that the U.S. military used the Army's Multipurpose High Energy Laser to shoot down three Mexican drug cartel drones in southern Texas' Rio Grande Valley late on Aug. 25 and early on Aug. 26. The commands did not give the precise location of the engagements or say whether they took place over U.S. or Mexican territory.\n\nThat omission matters because Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said unilateral U.S. action on Mexican soil would be a grave breach of her country's sovereignty, and the statement leaves unresolved whether a directed-energy weapon was fired across an international border. It also marks a further step in using a battlefield air-defense system inside the United States.\n\nMaj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, who commands Joint Task Force-Southern Border, said cartel networks "are increasingly employing unmanned aircraft systems" to aid smuggling and to spy on personnel, and that the drones posed "a physical threat." The military did not name the laser's manufacturer.