US Expands Counter-Drone Tech at Southern Border as Cartel Drone Detections Rise

US forces are expanding counter-drone technologies at the southern border as detections of drug cartel drones increase. The effort centers on a layered defense against uncrewed aerial systems, with officials emphasizing that no single technology can defeat every drone threat. Ongoing testing is also helping the Pentagon better understand how cartels are using drones near the border.

US Northern Command recently completed the fourth iteration of Falcon Peak, an Arizona exercise focused on testing new counter-drone systems. The exercise included defense vendors, the Joint Task Force-Southern Border, the US Department of Homeland Security, and the US Army-led Joint Interagency Task Force-401. The broader goal is to improve the ability to detect, disable, and destroy UAS that threaten the US.

US military officials said they have seen a “very noticeable” rise in cartel drone detections over recent months, including 378 detections over the past month. Officials described the drones as largely commercial off-the-shelf systems carrying cameras and operating in an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance role for drug trafficking. They also cautioned that more detections do not necessarily mean cartels are using more drones, because US forces now have more counter-drone systems deployed.

Officials said US forces are using systems such as electro-optic cameras and sensors to locate, track, and positively identify drones in flight. The southern border has also become a testing environment for counter-drone tools, including weapons designed to destroy drones. In late August, the Joint Task Force-Southern Border said it used a laser weapon identified as the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser to take out three cartel drones.

The clearest implication is that US counter-drone strategy is moving toward a networked, layered approach. Lasers may offer a more sustainable option for destroying small drones than traditional interceptors, but they come with power-generation challenges. Lessons from recent drone-heavy conflicts reinforce the same point officials are making at the border: different threats require different counter-drone tools.