By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) – U.S. officials will give key senators a classified briefing on Wednesday after two incidents in Texas involving government drones that prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to close airspace to airplanes, senators told Reuters.
The U.S. military on February 25 errantly shot down a government drone with a laser-based anti-drone system, which prompted the FAA to expand an area where flights are barred around Fort Hancock, Texas.
On February 18, the FAA said it was halting all flights for 10 days at the airport in nearby El Paso, Texas, only to reverse course and lift its order after about eight hours. The FAA action had been prompted by the use of the high-energy laser system by the Customs and Border Protection agency near the Mexican border to address drone threats.
“I asked for the classified briefing because I want to understand exactly what’s happened,” Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, told Reuters.
The briefing, from officials at the FAA, Pentagon and Homeland Security Department, is limited to the top Republicans and Democrats on three key committees, congressional aides said.
Senator Maria Cantwell, top Democrat on the Commerce Committee, said the issue of drone attacks has taken on increasing importance but emphasized the need for the military and FAA to coordinate.
“I hope we’re going to hear from them some better plan how we try to address these things in the future. But the environment is changing,” Cantwell said.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the briefing.
Reuters reported the El Paso closure stemmed from FAA concerns about the use of the laser-based anti-drone system and that the agency agreed to drop its restrictions around El Paso if the Pentagon agreed to delay further testing pending an FAA safety review.
CBP deployed the laser technology in February to take down four suspected cartel drones, despite warnings from the FAA that the technology had not been deemed safe to use in the same vicinity as commercial flights, a congressional aide told Reuters, adding agencies had said the laser had never before been deployed domestically.
(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Peter Graff)
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