Dave Philipps
The military has made fast progress in recent years building an arsenal of guns, missiles, lasers, jammers and even high-powered microwaves that can shoot down drones. But it has made much less progress figuring out the rules and procedures needed to use those technologies safely in a crowded civilian airspace.
That disconnect caused the sudden, unexpected shutdown of the airspace over El Paso on Tuesday night. There are conflicting accounts of what caused the Federal Aviation Administration to close the airspace, with the Trump administration saying Wednesday that a sudden incursion of drones from Mexican drug cartels had necessitated a military response. Others said the closure was prompted by use of a new military counter-drone technology and concerns about the risks it could pose to other aircraft in the area.
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