Drone activity at border drops 75% after U.S. uses laser weapon, military says

In less than two weeks, the high-energy laser weapon system has taken down 11 drones, coinciding with a 75% drop in drones probing the border, military officials told CBS News.

By Bay News Staff United States Published Monday, September 7, 2026, 1:27 PM ET

Photo: CBS

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UNITED STATES: McAllen, Texas, Less than two weeks after the military first used a high-energy laser weapon system to down suspicious drones, military officials told CBS News there has been a roughly 75% decrease in the number of drones probing the southern border in the Rio Grande Valley.

The system made its debut by taking down three drones on Aug. 25 and 26 after months of training that included an episode that caused the Federal Aviation Administration to briefly shut down El Paso's airport earlier this year. Since then, military officials told CBS News there is regular coordination with the FAA to ensure the laser does not pose a risk to civilians.

The U.S. military already has tools that use jamming to send some of the dozens of drones that appear daily back to where they came from, but the laser gives the option to bring a drone down if it is a suspected threat. Since the beginning of the year, the military has stopped 300 drones officials say are linked to cartels, including eleven the laser took down over a span of ten days.

"When you just send it back and then it comes back up or is defeated temporarily, but the game changer is ensuring that that tool can't be used again against you," said Army Col. Robert Felicio, commander of the 130th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade that's deployed to the border.

Felicio in an interview with CBS News said there has been a "significant" change in activity since the laser entered the picture. He didn't disclose the daily number of drones his unit sees but Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, the head of U.S. Northern Command, told lawmakers in 2024 there are approximately 1,000 drone incursions at the southern border each month.

Felicio and other military officials acknowledged the recent drop may have also been caused by other variables, like the cartels finding different routes, but it occurred after the laser's debut.

During a test of the system CBS News viewed exclusively on Friday, soldiers sent up a small quadcopter drone over an empty field near the border wall. Inside a vehicle with the laser mounted on top of it, other soldiers tracked the drone using an Xbox controller and a camera feed displayed on an i-pad-like device. Once they had the target drone in sight, they deployed the laser to zap it.

This Bay News report is based on originating coverage from CBS.

This Bay News report is based on official statements and reporting from CBS. Read the originating dispatch.