I mean, wouldn’t an even slightest clever adversary do just that? Launch a bunch of decoys(party balloons, drones, whatever) amidst one they actually want to actually use as an attack vector?
Would the pentagon just play an expensive pew pew and potentially miss the real one?
It's honestly wild to see this happening again so soon after the El Paso incident. You'd think with a budget that massive, 'not lasering our own hardware' (or party balloons) would be a higher priority. The coordination gap between the Pentagon and the FAA/CBP seems deeper than just a 'communication lapse' if these high-energy systems are being fired off without a heads-up. That El Paso detail about the Locust system and the airport shutdown still feels like something out of a satire.
Accidentally
https://archive.ph/Oh6gF
The same laser system (Locust) shut down El Paso International Airport, apparently defending the U.S. from a party balloon.
I mean, wouldn’t an even slightest clever adversary do just that? Launch a bunch of decoys(party balloons, drones, whatever) amidst one they actually want to actually use as an attack vector? Would the pentagon just play an expensive pew pew and potentially miss the real one?
Godspeed for anyone transiting the airspace where these devices are active.
just tell em to wear their disintegration-proof vest
Crazy they just has to shutdown an airport in a separate incident in Texas on the 12th because they can't get it together on this stuff:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/11/us/faa-el-paso-fligh...
What is going on at the Pentagon?
Well the head of the Pentagon is an alcoholic who has no business being in the role, so thats probably contributing to their issues as of late....
Are there any that are not own goals or buffoonery?
It's honestly wild to see this happening again so soon after the El Paso incident. You'd think with a budget that massive, 'not lasering our own hardware' (or party balloons) would be a higher priority. The coordination gap between the Pentagon and the FAA/CBP seems deeper than just a 'communication lapse' if these high-energy systems are being fired off without a heads-up. That El Paso detail about the Locust system and the airport shutdown still feels like something out of a satire.
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