🔴 Cartel Drones Are Being Taken Down With High-Tech Lasers on the Southern Border. The Weapon Is Mounted on a Streamlined Jeep With a Turret.
In late August, U.S. troops on the southern border used a high-energy laser against hostile drones. Joint Task Force–Southern Border said the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser — AMP-HEL — defeated three unmanned aircraft on the nights of August 25 and 26. Officials said the drones were being used to watch U.S. personnel and support smuggling.
The hardware does not look like a movie. It’s a laser and sensor stack on an Infantry Squad Vehicle. AeroVironment’s LOCUST-class system. About 20 kilowatts. Soldiers track the target on a screen and fire with a controller. The beam itself is often invisible. You get a flash at the drone, then it falls.
A commercial quadcopter is cheap. A missile is not. Jammers can push a drone off. A laser can kill the airframe so it doesn’t come back. Cost per shot is a few dollars of electricity.
Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, who commands the task force, said cartel networks are using drones to move people and spy on troops and Border Patrol. Directed energy is now part of the stack with guns, missiles, and electronic warfare.
This was the first time AMP-HEL was used against those drones on the southern border. The Army has been putting the same family of lasers on ISVs and JLTVs so the weapon can move with the unit instead of sitting on a test range.
🔶 Who’s There
Joint Task Force–Southern Border is a U.S. Northern Command unit. It supports Customs and Border Protection. The Army still has thousands of troops on that mission. They don’t replace CBP. They add sensors, patrols, obstacles, aviation, and now counter-drone gear.
🔶 Who Runs the Laser
Soldiers assigned to that task force man the AMP-HEL vehicles. A crew, a truck, and a commander who says when they can shoot.
🔶 How a Typical Engagement Works
1. A drone shows up on radar, cameras, or other sensors.
2. The task force and CBP decide what it is doing — scouting a patrol, covering a crossing, hanging over troops.
3. If they call it hostile, the layered defense kicks in: jam it, take it with a gun or interceptor, or burn it with the laser.
4. On the AMP-HEL truck, the crew tracks the aircraft, holds the beam on it, and disables or drops it.
5. That is what they said happened on Aug. 25–26: JTF-SB crews used AMP-HEL against three drones they judged were supporting a threat to troops and CBP.
🔶 Why the Army Is On the Gun
CBP can see a lot of drones. The military brought a weapon that can kill them cheaply and keep the same airframe from flying again. The laser vehicle is just another tool in that stack, crewed by soldiers already on the border mission.
If you only remember one thing: the fight against cheap drones is not a $2 million interceptor against an $800 aircraft. It’s a streamlined jeep, a generator, and a beam you can shoot again a minute later.
The Army is already doing it.