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The El Paso No-Fly Debacle Is Just the Beginning of a Drone Defense Mess

The El Paso No-Fly Debacle Is Just the Beginning of a Drone Defense Mess

A shocking but ultimately brief airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, and parts of New Mexico last week is stoking unease among pilots and the broader public about the status of United States anti-drone defenses.

As low-cost UAV equipment proliferates around the world, analysts have repeatedly warned that destructive attacks perpetrated using drones are inevitable. It is challenging to develop nimble and safe countermeasures, though, given that things like jamming or attempting to shoot down a drone are difficult—or even impossible—to carry out safely in populated areas, much less densely populated cities.

In the case of the El Paso incident, the Federal Aviation Administration originally set the airspace closure to last 10 days, but ultimately lifted it after eight hours. The Trump administration initially said the move was related to possible incursion of Mexican drug cartel drones, but the New York Times and others reported that it came from FAA concerns that Customs and Border Protection officials were using a Pentagon-provided anti-drone laser weapon in the area despite questions about potential dangers to civilian aircraft.

CBP reportedly used the laser defense tool to shoot down what turned out to be a party balloon.

“The FAA likely did a very intelligent thing by issuing the Temporary Flight Restriction,” says Tarah Wheeler, chief security officer of the cybersecurity consultancy TPO Group. “The initial 10-day length of the TFR makes it seem like the FAA wasn’t provided with information on how long the laser would be in use. The FAA doesn’t want to close down airspace longer than they have to.”

The FAA, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment.

A White House official told The Hill on Thursday that an FAA administrator made the decision to close the airspace without notifying the White House, the Pentagon, or DHS.

“The Department of War and the Department of Transportation having been working together for months regarding drone incursion operations. Last night’s action to disable the cartel drones was not a spontaneous action,” the official told The Hill in a statement. “At no point in the process of disabling these cartel drones were civilian aircraft in danger as a result of the methods used by DOW to disable the drones.”

Also on Thursday, US representatives Veronica Escobar of Texas and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, along with New Mexico senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, wrote to DHS secretary Kristi Noem, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, and transportation secretary Sean Duffy to request a classified briefing on the incident.

The lawmakers wrote that they want representatives from each agency “to speak to the roles they played, acknowledge where the failed communication occurred, and share the steps you are taking to ensure a future crisis of this nature will not reoccur.”

The laser tool used in the situation was a “LOCUST” anti-drone weapon system made by the defense company AeroVironment (AV), according to a Reuters report. The LOCUST system is a 20-kilowatt laser directed energy weapon, a relatively low-power tool made to be used to take out small drones. (AV acquired LOCUST creator BlueHalo in November 2024.)

“The recent proliferation of inexpensive and readily available drones has shifted the focus to short-range air defense, where lasers and high-powered microwaves offer a potentially game-changing advantage,” an Army report on a laser weapons test said in June.

AV delivered two sets of LOCUST units to the US Army in September and December as part of the Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) prototyping project—one of a few “Directed Energy Efforts” that the Army’s Directed Energy Prototyping Office undertook in 2025.

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#Paso #NoFly #Debacle #Beginning #Drone #Defense #Mess

Tired of taking your action camera on an adventure, only to get home and find out you missed the action with a bad angle? One option is to switch to a 360-degree action cam, so you can capture all of the action and then edit down to just the good stuff later. One of our favorite options, the DJI Osmo 360, is currently available for just $390 on Amazon, a $209 discount from its usual price, and it comes with a selfie stick and an extra battery.

The DJI Osmo 360 achieves its impressive all-around video quality by leveraging a pair of 1/1.1-inch sensors, larger than some other offerings, and by supporting 10-bit color. You can really see that in the camera’s output, with colors that are vivid and bold, to the point that you may need to dial them back a bit in post if you want something more natural. With support for up to 50 frames per second at 8K when recording in 360 degrees, or 120 fps at 4K when shooting with only one sensor, you’ll have plenty of material to work with. In our testing, it ran for just shy of two hours at 30 fps, which is also around the time the internal storage had filled up anyway.

If you plan on catching any serious discussions with your Osmo 360, you’ll be pleased to know it connects directly to DJI’s line of wireless lavalier microphones, including the excellent and frequently discounted DJI Mic 2 and Mic Mini. If you want to mount it to something other than the included 1.2-meter selfie stick, it has both DJI’s magnetic attachment system and a more traditional ¼”-20 tripod mount. The DJI Mimo app lets you control the camera and adjust any settings, and there’s even a simple editor for on-the-fly production. For desktop users, DJI Studio has even more in-depth settings and editing options, in case you don’t want to pay for Premiere.

The DJI Osmo 360 is one of our favorite action cameras, and is particularly appealing at the discounted price point, but make sure to check out our full review for more info, or head over to our full roundup to see what else is available.

#Favorite #Cams #Percentcameras,shopping,deals,action cameras">One of Our Favorite 360 Cams Is 35 Percent OffTired of taking your action camera on an adventure, only to get home and find out you missed the action with a bad angle? One option is to switch to a 360-degree action cam, so you can capture all of the action and then edit down to just the good stuff later. One of our favorite options, the DJI Osmo 360, is currently available for just 0 on Amazon, a 9 discount from its usual price, and it comes with a selfie stick and an extra battery.The DJI Osmo 360 achieves its impressive all-around video quality by leveraging a pair of 1/1.1-inch sensors, larger than some other offerings, and by supporting 10-bit color. You can really see that in the camera’s output, with colors that are vivid and bold, to the point that you may need to dial them back a bit in post if you want something more natural. With support for up to 50 frames per second at 8K when recording in 360 degrees, or 120 fps at 4K when shooting with only one sensor, you’ll have plenty of material to work with. In our testing, it ran for just shy of two hours at 30 fps, which is also around the time the internal storage had filled up anyway.If you plan on catching any serious discussions with your Osmo 360, you’ll be pleased to know it connects directly to DJI’s line of wireless lavalier microphones, including the excellent and frequently discounted DJI Mic 2 and Mic Mini. If you want to mount it to something other than the included 1.2-meter selfie stick, it has both DJI’s magnetic attachment system and a more traditional ¼”-20 tripod mount. The DJI Mimo app lets you control the camera and adjust any settings, and there’s even a simple editor for on-the-fly production. For desktop users, DJI Studio has even more in-depth settings and editing options, in case you don’t want to pay for Premiere.The DJI Osmo 360 is one of our favorite action cameras, and is particularly appealing at the discounted price point, but make sure to check out our full review for more info, or head over to our full roundup to see what else is available.#Favorite #Cams #Percentcameras,shopping,deals,action cameras

DJI Osmo 360, is currently available for just $390 on Amazon, a $209 discount from its usual price, and it comes with a selfie stick and an extra battery.

The DJI Osmo 360 achieves its impressive all-around video quality by leveraging a pair of 1/1.1-inch sensors, larger than some other offerings, and by supporting 10-bit color. You can really see that in the camera’s output, with colors that are vivid and bold, to the point that you may need to dial them back a bit in post if you want something more natural. With support for up to 50 frames per second at 8K when recording in 360 degrees, or 120 fps at 4K when shooting with only one sensor, you’ll have plenty of material to work with. In our testing, it ran for just shy of two hours at 30 fps, which is also around the time the internal storage had filled up anyway.

If you plan on catching any serious discussions with your Osmo 360, you’ll be pleased to know it connects directly to DJI’s line of wireless lavalier microphones, including the excellent and frequently discounted DJI Mic 2 and Mic Mini. If you want to mount it to something other than the included 1.2-meter selfie stick, it has both DJI’s magnetic attachment system and a more traditional ¼”-20 tripod mount. The DJI Mimo app lets you control the camera and adjust any settings, and there’s even a simple editor for on-the-fly production. For desktop users, DJI Studio has even more in-depth settings and editing options, in case you don’t want to pay for Premiere.

The DJI Osmo 360 is one of our favorite action cameras, and is particularly appealing at the discounted price point, but make sure to check out our full review for more info, or head over to our full roundup to see what else is available.

#Favorite #Cams #Percentcameras,shopping,deals,action cameras">One of Our Favorite 360 Cams Is 35 Percent Off

Tired of taking your action camera on an adventure, only to get home and find out you missed the action with a bad angle? One option is to switch to a 360-degree action cam, so you can capture all of the action and then edit down to just the good stuff later. One of our favorite options, the DJI Osmo 360, is currently available for just $390 on Amazon, a $209 discount from its usual price, and it comes with a selfie stick and an extra battery.

The DJI Osmo 360 achieves its impressive all-around video quality by leveraging a pair of 1/1.1-inch sensors, larger than some other offerings, and by supporting 10-bit color. You can really see that in the camera’s output, with colors that are vivid and bold, to the point that you may need to dial them back a bit in post if you want something more natural. With support for up to 50 frames per second at 8K when recording in 360 degrees, or 120 fps at 4K when shooting with only one sensor, you’ll have plenty of material to work with. In our testing, it ran for just shy of two hours at 30 fps, which is also around the time the internal storage had filled up anyway.

If you plan on catching any serious discussions with your Osmo 360, you’ll be pleased to know it connects directly to DJI’s line of wireless lavalier microphones, including the excellent and frequently discounted DJI Mic 2 and Mic Mini. If you want to mount it to something other than the included 1.2-meter selfie stick, it has both DJI’s magnetic attachment system and a more traditional ¼”-20 tripod mount. The DJI Mimo app lets you control the camera and adjust any settings, and there’s even a simple editor for on-the-fly production. For desktop users, DJI Studio has even more in-depth settings and editing options, in case you don’t want to pay for Premiere.

The DJI Osmo 360 is one of our favorite action cameras, and is particularly appealing at the discounted price point, but make sure to check out our full review for more info, or head over to our full roundup to see what else is available.

#Favorite #Cams #Percentcameras,shopping,deals,action cameras

PRIME MEMBERS SAVE 20¢ PER GALLON: Instead of the standard 10¢ per gallon discount, Prime members can take advantage of Fuel Up Friday to save 20¢ per gallon when pumping gas every Friday through May. Locations include bp, Amoco, and participating ampm and Thorntons locations.


valid once every Friday through May 29

Fuel prices are up. How high will they go? No one knows, but Amazon is giving a bit of respite to Prime members who fill up the tank on Fridays until the end of May. Here’s how to cash in on the savings.

Prime members are eligible to save 20¢ per gallon when refueling on every Friday through May 29. You’ll need to swing by any bp, Amoco, or a participating ampm or Thorntons to get the savings. First, you’ll need to link your Amazon Prime account in the Earnify app and enter your phone number. After that, you’ll be able to use the app to save 20¢ per gallon once every Friday. If you need to refuel any other day of the week, you’ll get 10¢ off per gallon as a Prime member.

A Prime membership comes with plenty of perks. Throughout the year, members get special access to sales, discounts, free books, two-day shipping, streaming privileges on Prime Video, and more. Added to the list is now saving save 20¢ per gallon when filling up the gas tank on Fridays until the end of May.

Keep in mind this is valid only for U.S. Prime members and you can only use the discount once every Friday, so you won’t be able to fuel up vehicles for the entire family. Amazon mentions 7,500 gas stations are participating in this deal, so there should be one fairly nearby your home.

Since this deal is valid through May 29, you still have eight Fridays to refuel with while saving 20¢ per gallon. If you’re already a Prime member, there’s good reason to take advantage of this savings.

#Prime #member #savings #Save #gallon #fueling #Fridays">Prime member savings: Save 20¢ per gallon when fueling up on Fridays until the end of May
                                                            PRIME MEMBERS SAVE 20¢ PER GALLON: Instead of the standard 10¢ per gallon discount, Prime members can take advantage of Fuel Up Friday to save 20¢ per gallon when pumping gas every Friday through May. Locations include bp, Amoco, and participating ampm and Thorntons locations.
    
    
    
        
                                        
                                                    valid once every Friday through May 29
                    
        
    

Fuel prices are up. How high will they go? No one knows, but Amazon is giving a bit of respite to Prime members who fill up the tank on Fridays until the end of May. Here’s how to cash in on the savings.Prime members are eligible to save 20¢ per gallon when refueling on every Friday through May 29. You’ll need to swing by any bp, Amoco, or a participating ampm or Thorntons to get the savings. First, you’ll need to link your Amazon Prime account in the Earnify app and enter your phone number. After that, you’ll be able to use the app to save 20¢ per gallon once every Friday. If you need to refuel any other day of the week, you’ll get 10¢ off per gallon as a Prime member.
        
            Mashable Trend Report
        
        
    
A Prime membership comes with plenty of perks. Throughout the year, members get special access to sales, discounts, free books, two-day shipping, streaming privileges on Prime Video, and more. Added to the list is now saving save 20¢ per gallon when filling up the gas tank on Fridays until the end of May. 
        SEE ALSO:
        
            Amazon is reportedly moving its annual Prime Day sale this year
            
        
    
Keep in mind this is valid only for U.S. Prime members and you can only use the discount once every Friday, so you won’t be able to fuel up vehicles for the entire family. Amazon mentions 7,500 gas stations are participating in this deal, so there should be one fairly nearby your home. 
Since this deal is valid through May 29, you still have eight Fridays to refuel with while saving 20¢ per gallon. If you’re already a Prime member, there’s good reason to take advantage of this savings. 

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Prime #member #savings #Save #gallon #fueling #Fridays

Fuel Up Friday to save 20¢ per gallon when pumping gas every Friday through May. Locations include bp, Amoco, and participating ampm and Thorntons locations.


valid once every Friday through May 29

Fuel prices are up. How high will they go? No one knows, but Amazon is giving a bit of respite to Prime members who fill up the tank on Fridays until the end of May. Here’s how to cash in on the savings.

Prime members are eligible to save 20¢ per gallon when refueling on every Friday through May 29. You’ll need to swing by any bp, Amoco, or a participating ampm or Thorntons to get the savings. First, you’ll need to link your Amazon Prime account in the Earnify app and enter your phone number. After that, you’ll be able to use the app to save 20¢ per gallon once every Friday. If you need to refuel any other day of the week, you’ll get 10¢ off per gallon as a Prime member.

A Prime membership comes with plenty of perks. Throughout the year, members get special access to sales, discounts, free books, two-day shipping, streaming privileges on Prime Video, and more. Added to the list is now saving save 20¢ per gallon when filling up the gas tank on Fridays until the end of May.

Keep in mind this is valid only for U.S. Prime members and you can only use the discount once every Friday, so you won’t be able to fuel up vehicles for the entire family. Amazon mentions 7,500 gas stations are participating in this deal, so there should be one fairly nearby your home.

Since this deal is valid through May 29, you still have eight Fridays to refuel with while saving 20¢ per gallon. If you’re already a Prime member, there’s good reason to take advantage of this savings.

#Prime #member #savings #Save #gallon #fueling #Fridays">Prime member savings: Save 20¢ per gallon when fueling up on Fridays until the end of May

PRIME MEMBERS SAVE 20¢ PER GALLON: Instead of the standard 10¢ per gallon discount, Prime members can take advantage of Fuel Up Friday to save 20¢ per gallon when pumping gas every Friday through May. Locations include bp, Amoco, and participating ampm and Thorntons locations.


valid once every Friday through May 29

Fuel prices are up. How high will they go? No one knows, but Amazon is giving a bit of respite to Prime members who fill up the tank on Fridays until the end of May. Here’s how to cash in on the savings.

Prime members are eligible to save 20¢ per gallon when refueling on every Friday through May 29. You’ll need to swing by any bp, Amoco, or a participating ampm or Thorntons to get the savings. First, you’ll need to link your Amazon Prime account in the Earnify app and enter your phone number. After that, you’ll be able to use the app to save 20¢ per gallon once every Friday. If you need to refuel any other day of the week, you’ll get 10¢ off per gallon as a Prime member.

A Prime membership comes with plenty of perks. Throughout the year, members get special access to sales, discounts, free books, two-day shipping, streaming privileges on Prime Video, and more. Added to the list is now saving save 20¢ per gallon when filling up the gas tank on Fridays until the end of May.

Keep in mind this is valid only for U.S. Prime members and you can only use the discount once every Friday, so you won’t be able to fuel up vehicles for the entire family. Amazon mentions 7,500 gas stations are participating in this deal, so there should be one fairly nearby your home.

Since this deal is valid through May 29, you still have eight Fridays to refuel with while saving 20¢ per gallon. If you’re already a Prime member, there’s good reason to take advantage of this savings.

#Prime #member #savings #Save #gallon #fueling #Fridays

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