El Paso Airspace Shut Over Counter-Drone Laser Sparks Interagency Clash
The FAA briefly closed airspace near El Paso after a Pentagon-backed counter-drone laser was deployed without FAA approval, triggering a high-stakes interagency dispute among the White House, DHS, Pentagon, and aviation regulators. The incident exposed fraught safety coordination, questioned the drone-threat narrative (a balloon was shot down, not a drone), and highlighted gaps in how aviation safety procedures are applied to new military technologies.