Senator seeks US watchdog probe into Texas drone incidents

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - ‌The top Democrat ​on ​the U.S. Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee on Friday called for a government investigation into two recent incidents of the government's use of a laser-based ‌anti-drone system in Texas.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, in a letter seen by ⁠Reuters, asked the inspector generals for the Transportation, Homeland Security and Defense departments to jointly investigate the ‌government's use of counter-drone high-energy laser ‌weapons. She said the Texas events near the Mexican border "raise serious questions regarding interagency coordination, notification procedures, aviation safety protocol, and compliance with federal law."

The U.S. ​military errantly shot down a government drone with a laser-based anti-drone system on February 25, leading the FAA to expand an area where flights are barred around ⁠Fort Hancock, Texas. The incident followed a February 18 decision by the FAA to halt all flights for 10 ​days at the nearby El Paso airport because of the use of the laser system by a Homeland Security agency without completion ​of a safety review.

The El Paso shutdown order ‌was lifted by the FAA after about eight hours following the intervention of the White House.

The Pentagon and FAA said last week ⁠that they were testing high-energy lasers in New Mexico designed to counter drones, aiming to address the FAA's safety concerns.

The Pentagon has said there are more than 1,000 drone incursions along ⁠the U.S.-Mexico border each month. U.S. security officials have increasingly expressed alarm about the use of drones ​by Mexican cartels to drop drug packages or surveil trafficking routes.

Duckworth wants the inspector generals to review the decision-making process leading to the use of the systems and FAA's decision to close ‌airspace, as well as "evaluations of any risks posed to civilian aircraft, commercial operators, general aviation, medical evacuation flights or other critical ‌air operations."

U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary Steve Bradbury said better coordination was needed. He told Reuters ⁠last week that testing was necessary ‌so the FAA could "get comfortable ​with what (the laser system's) limitations are, how it can be adjusted, how it can be controlled."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Toby Chopra, ‌Alexandra Hudson)

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