The United States Army neutralized three drones linked to Mexican cartels at the southern border using a high-energy laser system, in an operation that took place overnight from Tuesday, August 25, to Wednesday, August 26, along the border between Texas and Mexico.
The action was carried out by the Joint Task Force – Southern Border (JTF-SB), which operates under the U.S. Northern Command in support of the Customs and Border Protection Office.
According to the official statement issued from Fort Bliss, Texas, military personnel used the Army's Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) system to intercept and destroy three unmanned aircraft, classified as a direct physical threat to U.S. soldiers and border agents.
The Major General Curtis Taylor, commander of the JTF-SB, described the operation as an unequivocal demonstration of the military capabilities deployed in the area.
"The successful neutralization of these hostile drones is a direct testament to the readiness, vigilance, and technological advantage of the Joint Task Force," he stated.
Taylor also warned that cartel networks are increasingly resorting to drones to facilitate the illegal trafficking of people and to spy on military operations and CBP agents. He emphasized that the integration of advanced countermeasures makes it clear that hostile surveillance will not be tolerated.
The Director of Technology for the Department of Defense summarized the official stance in a post on X: "The United States will continue to counter adversarial drone incursions with lightning-speed lethality."
According to the agency EFE, the operation marked the first time that the AMP-HEL system was officially used to neutralize cartel drones at the southern border, although in February 2026, at least two previous incidents with similar technology had been recorded near El Paso International Airport and Fort Hancock, Texas, which prompted temporary airspace closures.
The AMP-HEL system operates with a 20-kilowatt laser mounted on tactical vehicles and was developed by AeroVironment. The first prototypes were delivered to the Army in August 2025, and a second batch of units mounted on JLTV vehicles arrived in December of that same year.
General Taylor explicitly thanked the support of the Mexican Army during the operation, indicating that the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum had prior knowledge of the operation.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly warned that any unilateral action by the U.S. on Mexican soil would constitute a violation of national sovereignty, even though the operations on August 25 and 26 were conducted on U.S. territory.
The JTF-SB has been operating since March 2025 under Operation Ardent Vanguard, with approximately 8,000 personnel deployed along the 1,954 miles of the southern border.
Since its activation, the force has reinforced hundreds of miles with wire obstacles, conducted tens of thousands of detection patrols, and carried out thousands of observation flights, in coordination with the Mexican Army.
The Border Patrol detected more than 155,000 drone flights linked to Mexico between 2022 and May 2025, particularly in Texas, highlighting the scale of the challenge faced by security forces in the region.
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