Joint Task Force Southern Border used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser system to disable three unmanned aircraft systems believed linked to drug cartels this week, marking the first deployment of the weapon against hostile drones at the border.
"The successful defeat of these adversarial drones is a direct testament to the readiness, vigilance and technological edge of the joint task force," said Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, Joint Task Force Southern Border commander.
Directed-energy weapons like lasers offer cost advantages over traditional kinetic weapons, according to a War Department official. The systems cost significantly less to operate than conventional missiles—a laser shot costs far less than a $2 million missile directed at an inexpensive drone. Directed-energy systems provide "low cost per shot, with deep magazines and they can come out against drone swarms," the official said.
The War Department plans to procure hundreds of thousands of drones in coming years, along with counter-unmanned aircraft systems technology including directed-energy systems. The effort aims to protect the homeland and the southern border from hostile drone incursions.
Developing scaled directed-energy weapons systems is one of six critical technology areas for the department, alongside applied artificial intelligence, biomanufacturing, contested logistics technologies, quantum and battlefield information dominance, and scaled hypersonics.
In June, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth observed directed-energy systems in operation at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, including a test of the Dynamic Defense Autonomous Defeat system. "I watched our elite warfighters integrate with next-generation technology to stop incoming drones and cruise missiles dead in their tracks," Hegseth said.
In July, the War Department awarded two agreements under the Joint Laser Weapon System program with an initial award value of $86 million and a total program ceiling of $847 million, intended to transition directed-energy capabilities from prototypes into field-ready, production-oriented platforms.