By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Friday it will conduct testing with the Federal Aviation Administration this weekend in New Mexico of high-energy laser used to address threatening drones.
“This upcoming event will specifically address FAA safety concerns while gathering data about the laser’s material effects on aircraft surrogates, validating the functionality of automated safety shut-off systems, and informing analyses for aircrew eye safety,” the Pentagon said.
The U.S. military on February 25 errantly shot down a government drone with a laser-based anti-drone system. This prompted the FAA to expand an area where flights are barred around Fort Hancock, Texas after the FAA said on Feb. 18 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.
U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary Steve Bradbury told Reuters in an interview Friday the testing is necessary so the FAA can “get comfortable with what (the laser system’s) limitations are, how it can be adjusted, how it can be controlled,” Bradbury said.
Bradbury said the FAA is determined to develop a framework so it is confident the airspace is safe with the system in use and will not need to sign off on individual uses.
“If we don’t have that we’ll need to close airspace or at least restrict airspace as necessary,” Bradbury said, saying they were working quickly to complete the safety analysis. “They have a critically important job to do and we have a critically important job to do and we need to coordinate so both jobs are getting done.”
Lawmakers said Wednesday said after a classified briefing that the incidents showed the need for significantly improved coordination.
“It’s clear that there were real challenges in terms of operationalizing counter-drone technology,” Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz said.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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