FAA Reopens El Paso Airspace After 8-Hour Drone Defense Shutdown

The FAA shuts down the sky

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shuttered airspace over El Paso, Texas, and parts of New Mexico last week after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) used a high-powered laser to shoot down a party balloon. The agency originally scheduled the flight restriction to last 10 days but reopened the corridor after eight hours of confusion. The closure stemmed from FAA concerns that federal agents were operating military-grade anti-drone hardware without proper safety protocols. While the Trump administration initially claimed the action targeted Mexican drug cartel drones, subsequent reports confirmed the target was an inanimate balloon. The FAA issued the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) to protect civilian aircraft from directed energy weapons. Experts suggest the agency lacked clear information regarding how long the laser would remain active. This lack of transparency forced the FAA to choose between grounding local traffic or risking a laser strike on a commercial cockpit.

Military hardware in civilian zones

The weapon involved in the incident is the LOCUST anti-drone system, a 20-kilowatt laser designed to melt the plastic housing of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Defense contractor AeroVironment (AV) manufactures the system following its acquisition of BlueHalo in November 2024. The LOCUST system functions as a directed energy weapon, providing a low-cost alternative to traditional kinetic interceptors like missiles. The U.S. Army received two sets of these units in September and December 2024 as part of the Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) prototyping project. These weapons are specifically designed for short-range air defense against inexpensive, off-the-shelf drones. While effective on a battlefield, these lasers present significant risks in populated areas where they can interfere with civilian sensors and pilot vision.

• System Name: LOCUST Directed Energy Weapon
• Manufacturer: AeroVironment (via BlueHalo)
• Power Output: 20 kilowatts
• Primary Purpose: Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS)
• Program: Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL)

A massive failure in communication

A White House official confirmed that the FAA administrator ordered the airspace closure without notifying the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), or the White House. This unilateral move highlights a growing rift between aviation regulators and security agencies. The Department of War and the Department of Transportation have reportedly spent months coordinating drone incursion operations. Despite this preparation, the El Paso incident revealed that real-time communication between these departments remains broken. The FAA maintains that it must prioritize the safety of the National Airspace System above all else. If security agencies deploy lasers without a clear timeline or safety perimeter, the FAA will continue to ground flights to prevent accidents.

Lawmakers demand an immediate briefing

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is now demanding answers from the heads of the three major departments involved. Representatives Veronica Escobar and Gabe Vasquez joined Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján in a formal request for a classified briefing. The letter targets three high-ranking cabinet members:

• Kristi Noem: Secretary of Homeland Security
• Pete Hegseth: Secretary of Defense
• Sean Duffy: Secretary of Transportation

The lawmakers want to know why communication failed so spectacularly during a non-emergency event involving a balloon. They are seeking a detailed account of the roles each agency played and a plan to prevent similar uncoordinated shutdowns in the future.

The danger to civilian pilots

Commercial and private pilots expressed alarm over the incident, noting that no standard operating procedure exists for dodging high-powered military lasers. Even a low-power laser pointer can temporarily blind a pilot; a 20-kilowatt weapon can cause permanent retinal damage or ignite onboard materials. The use of jamming and directed energy in densely populated cities remains a significant technical challenge. While these tools effectively neutralize drones, they also disrupt GPS signals and other critical flight systems used by commercial airliners. The FAA and the Pentagon have scheduled a meeting for later this month to draft new protocols for the domestic use of anti-drone technology. Until those rules are finalized, the risk of spontaneous airspace closures remains high as the government struggles to balance border security with aviation safety.

The rise of cheap drone threats

The proliferation of inexpensive UAVs has forced a shift in domestic defense strategy. Cartels and other actors now use consumer-grade drones for surveillance and smuggling, creating a constant security headache for border officials. The U.S. Army’s Directed Energy Prototyping Office accelerated its efforts in 2025 to meet this threat. However, the technology is moving faster than the regulatory framework required to manage it. The El Paso incident proves that shooting down a drone—or a balloon—is the easy part. The harder task is managing the collateral impact on the thousands of civilian flights that cross American skies every day. Security measures cannot come at the expense of a functional transportation system.

Technical specs and deployment dates

AeroVironment’s delivery of the LOCUST units was part of a broader push to modernize short-range air defense. These systems are intended to be mobile, allowing CBP to move them to high-traffic areas along the southern border. The AMP-HEL project is just one of several directed energy efforts currently underway. The military is also testing high-powered microwaves, which can disable drone electronics without the precision requirements of a laser beam. As these weapons become standard equipment for border agents, the FAA will need to integrate their operation into the daily management of the skies. Without a shared command-and-control interface, more "accidental" airspace closures are inevitable.