A key Pentagon official on Thursday brushed off criticism from senators over the department’s role in an episode that led the Federal Aviation Administration to briefly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas, earlier this month.
Under questioning during his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing to become the top Pentagon official in charge of homeland defense, Mark Ditlevson, who currently serves as the deputy to the position he has been nominated for, disputed characterizations that the Pentagon did not properly coordinate with the FAA on the use of a counter-drone laser.
“This was not a failure,” Ditlevson said in the first extended public comments from a Pentagon official about the incident. “We’re confident that this will not be a problem in the future. We’re going to continue to refine how we work with the FAA. And I defer to the FAA on the judgment decision to put up a temporary flight restriction. But we feel at the department we have been incredibly safe, and that’s our commitment to the American people.”
