By Faris Tanyos
February 27, 2026
The Defense Department shot down a U.S. Customs and Border Protection drone Wednesday in southwest Texas, federal officials confirmed.
A U.S. official said a laser weapon was used to disable the drone near Fort Hancock, a small community on the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a joint statement late Thursday, the Defense Department, CBP and the FAA said the engagement “occurred when the Department of War employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace.” The statement noted the Department of War is the White House’s preferred term for the Defense Department.
“The engagement took place far away from populated areas and there were no commercial aircraft in the vicinity,” the agencies added.
The FAA said the incident prompted it to expand a temporary flight restriction that was already in place around Fort Hancock. The restriction was issued for “Special Security Reasons,” and the FAA said it was not affecting commercial flights.
Democratic Reps. Rick Larsen, André Carson and Bennie Thompson, members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, criticized the action and the lack of interagency coordination. “Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” they said in a joint statement.
This marks the second time this month that military drone activity near Texas’ southern border has led to airspace restrictions. On Feb. 11, the FAA briefly closed airspace around El Paso amid a safety dispute with the Pentagon over military drone tests near Fort Bliss, adjacent to El Paso International Airport and roughly 50 miles northwest of Fort Hancock. Sources said those tests involved a high-energy laser. The FAA initially announced a 10-day closure of El Paso’s commercial airspace but reopened it hours later. White House officials told CBS News that closure was prompted by Mexican cartel drones breaching U.S. airspace.
Kerry Breen, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Jennifer Jacobs, Kris Van Cleave and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.