The Pentagon said on Friday it would conduct tests with the Federal Aviation Administration this weekend in New Mexico of high-energy lasers designed to counter drone threats. The Pentagon said the upcoming event will specifically address Federal Aviation Administration safety concerns while collecting data on the material effects of lasers on aircraft surrogates, verifying the functionality of automatic safety shutdown systems and informing crew eye safety analyses.
The U.S. military mistakenly shot down a government drone on February 25 using a laser counter-drone system. That prompted the FAA to expand a no-fly zone near Fort Hancock, Texas, after saying on February 18 it would halt all flights at the airport near El Paso, Texas, for 10 days, only to reverse course and lift the order about eight hours later.
U.S. Transportation Undersecretary Steve Bradbury told Reuters in an interview on Friday that the testing was necessary so that the FAA could "feel comfortable with the limitations of the laser system, how it is adjusted and how it is controlled."
Bradbury said the FAA is determined to develop a framework so that it can be confident the airspace is safe when the system is used, without requiring sign-offs for individual uses.
"If we can't do that, we will need to close the airspace or at least restrict the airspace if necessary," Bradbury said, adding that they were completing a safety analysis quickly. "They have an extremely important job to do, we have an extremely important job to do, and we need to coordinate so that both jobs get done."
Lawmakers said after a confidential briefing on Wednesday that the incidents showed the need for significantly greater coordination.
"It's clear that there are real challenges around the operability of counter-drone technology," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz.