The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has decided to give carte blanche approval of the military’s use of laser weaponry to shoot down suspected errant drones in U.S. airspace, reports the New York Times. This decision comes after a controversial move by the FAA, back in February, when it closed airspace in response to the military firing high-energy lasers at suspected drug cartel drones. Those drones over Texas turned out to be “party balloons.” That incident, causing delays to civil aviation with flight paths over the area, likely made relations between the FAA, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Pentagon quite icy.
Now you may be wondering what’s changed to result in the two-month standoff between the FAA and the Pentagon being over. There may have been some political pressure on one side or another – that’s open for debate. However, what we do know is that the FAA has completed its safety assessments.
