US Shuts Down El Paso Airspace Because Someone Zapped A Drone...Sort Of

KEY POINTS

•On February 11, 2026, the FAA shut down El Paso’s airspace for nearly eight hours due to a counter-drone laser weapon firing.
•The 20-kilowatt LOCUST laser, owned by the military but fired by Customs and Border Protection, caused the shutdown without proper coordination.
•Originally blamed on a ‘cartel drone incursion’ by Trump-era officials, sources say the closure was the FAA's reaction to the unannounced laser test.

In a stunt straight out of a low-budget sci-fi flick, El Paso's airspace was locked tighter than grandma's cookies for nearly eight hours on February 11, 2026, thanks to AeroVironment's 20-kilowatt LOCUST laser, a beam so bright it made the FAA freak out. Supposedly aiming to take down drones without spending $100-a-pop interceptors, the Army lent the toy to Customs and Border Protection, who seems to have missed the memo about coordinating with the FAA. Originally rumored as a 'cartel drone incursion' by Trump folks, insiders spilled that the only incursion was the military-grade laser cutting through proper communication protocols. Meanwhile, BlueHalo’s laser baby, recently adopted by AeroVironment, quietly tested near the U.S.-Mexico border back in August 2025. All this amid Pentagon's billion-dollar laser shopping spree, prepping souped-up Trump-class battleships with lasers 15-30 times meaner than LOCUST. Until then, laser tag on the border creates chaos AND cheap thrills.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

When your advanced $1B military laser turns El Paso into the world’s longest unscheduled blackout documentary, maybe check if anyone’s cleared airspace first.

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