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Mexican drug cartels have been using drones to survey the U.S.-Mexico border to find the best routes for their illegal operations. But a promising antidrone technology is putting them on notice. Powerful laser beams are bringing them down.
This is a positive development in the U.S. fight against cartels and should have applications in other defense and law enforcement strategies.
Recently, the U.S. military began using a high-energy laser weapons system that has reportedly led to a 75% decrease in the number of drones probing the southern border near the Rio Grande Valley, military officials told CBS News. The U.S. military already uses jamming technology to disrupt drone traffic, but the laser is more effective -- it can bring them down.
According to the news report, the U.S. has stopped 300 drones linked to cartels this year, including 11 taken down by the laser in 10 days.
This is the same antidrone technology that caused a hiccup earlier this year when the Federal Aviation Administration had to briefly shut down El Paso's airport during a test of this tool. Since then, military officials have offered assurances that there has been coordination with the FAA to make certain the technology does not pose any risk to civilians.
Drones have quickly become part of our everyday lives. They are used for everything, from aerial photography to package delivery, but unfortunately also for criminal activity. Drones have also become a weapon of choice in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
To say they can be a security threat is an understatement. This is why the development of antidrone technology will be important in the next few years. It is encouraging that North Texas is already becoming a hub, as our colleague Trevor Bach reported.
We got a taste of how this technology is used this summer during the FIFA World Cup, when venues such as Fair Park and AT&T Stadium were designated no-fly zones by the FAA. Although they did not necessarily pose a security threat, nearly 100 drones were seized by authorities. Most of the users were unsuspecting fans unaware of the restrictions. Others were employees of roofing and real estate companies.
The counterdrone sector is growing and already valued at several billion dollars, our newsroom reported. In North Texas, the most important players are established aerospace and defense firms, like Raytheon, with a major hub in McKinney, and Northrop Grumman, with a facility in Irving.
The LOCUST laser weapons system used by the military at the southern border was manufactured by AeroVironment, a Virginia-based company.
This technology can be helpful not only at the border, but to fight their criminal activities elsewhere. Mexican cartels have been weaponizing drones against their enemies and security forces since at least 2020, and they are surely watching how they have been used in Ukraine. Their use for assassinations and to combat rival gangs is not widespread in Mexico, but it is around the corner, wrote Vanda Felbab-Brown, a security analyst at the Brookings Institution.
Antidrone technology can quickly become a useful tool against cartels. Not necessarily a game changer, but it will certainly make these criminal gangs second-guess their illicit activities.
-- Dallas Morning News