The U.S. military used an Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser to defeat three hostile drones in southern Texas’ Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said. The operation took place late Tuesday and early Wednesday under U.S. Northern Command and in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, C4ISRNET reported.

The military said the drones posed a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and Customs and Border Protection personnel. Joint Task Force-Southern Border described the aircraft as hostile and said its personnel engaged and defeated all three using the laser system, Breaking Defense reported.

The operation’s precise location was not disclosed. Officials also did not say whether the engagements occurred over U.S. or Mexican territory, or identify who was flying the drones. The task force indicated that the aircraft could have been used for reconnaissance by a drug cartel, while C4ISRNET characterized them as Mexican cartel drones.

Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of Joint Task Force-Southern Border, said cartel networks are increasingly using unmanned aircraft to support illicit human smuggling and spy on U.S. personnel and law-enforcement partners. The task force said the operation formed part of a layered response that included the directed-energy system.

AeroVironment told Breaking Defense that the task force used one of the company’s non-kinetic counter-drone systems associated with the Army’s Multipurpose High Energy Laser program. The company did not identify the specific system involved. The task force also did not disclose whether the laser was mounted on a vehicle.

The public description leaves the system’s precise configuration and employment details unclear. Breaking Defense reported that the task force’s release referred to a counter-unmanned-aircraft system delivered to the Army in December, around the time AeroVironment announced delivery of a prototype 20-kilowatt-class LOCUST system. Neither account identifies LOCUST as the system used in the three engagements.

The border task force said it has conducted tens of thousands of detection and monitoring patrols and thousands of observation flights since its establishment in 2025. The military’s announcement comes as the Trump administration seeks to intensify action against immigration and cartels.

The incident also follows an earlier laser-related mishap. Congressional aides told Reuters in February that the military had accidentally shot down a U.S. government drone with a laser-based counter-drone system. The current announcement provides no further information about the earlier event or whether the same system was involved.

U.S. security officials have raised concerns about cartel use of drones to drop drug packages and monitor trafficking routes. Cartels in parts of Mexico farther from the U.S. border have also used drones to drop explosives in attacks. U.S. and Mexican authorities are working together against the growth of drone activity in the border region, while the location and cross-border status of the latest engagements remain undisclosed.