Pentagon weighs using anti-drone lasers near D.C. military base

The Pentagon is actively considering deployment of a powerful anti-drone laser system at Fort Lesley J. McNair military base in Washington, D.C. The technology would be positioned directly near the official residences of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Army officials are weighing the move after multiple reports of unusual drone activity in the airspace surrounding the secure installation. The sightings have triggered acute concern over possible surveillance of two of President Trump’s most senior national security officials at a time when the United States is engaged in direct war with Iran.

Fort McNair houses a variety of high-ranking military and civilian personnel. Placing the laser system there would add significant complexity to the already heavily traveled airspace over the capital region, which sits roughly two miles from Ronald Reagan National Airport.

The laser, known as LOCUST, has been the subject of an ongoing dispute between the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA has raised repeated safety concerns about the system’s potential to cause fatalities or permanent injury to civilians and pilots, even while the Defense Department has pushed aggressively for its use against Mexican drug cartel drones along the southern border.

Recent drone swarms near Fort McNair prompted Pentagon discussions about temporarily relocating Hegseth and Rubio. An Army-led joint task force confirmed it has increased anti-drone activities around the base to protect service members and residents, though it has not confirmed laser deployment plans.

The interagency tensions remain unresolved even as the Pentagon presses forward with testing and potential domestic use of the system inside the capital.