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Pentagon loans DHS a heat-ray system for possible U.S. border use
CNN, citing a Defense Department memo it obtained, reports Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized a seven-month loan of one Active Denial System to Homeland Security for testing and possible southern-border operations.
The Pentagon has authorized the Department of Homeland Security to borrow a military heat-ray system for seven months of testing and possible use in operations at the southern U.S. border, CNN reported, citing a memo signed last month by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the network said it obtained1.
The weapon, the Active Denial System, is a nonlethal directed-energy device that the U.S. military says fires an invisible beam of electromagnetic waves that can reach a little more than half a mile, according to that account1. CNN said Pentagon officials have previously compared the sensation on skin to heat from opening a hot oven, and that military officials have described a tingling effect lasting 10 to 15 minutes and an urge to move away1.
The memo authorizes the temporary loan of one system starting in September and states that it shall not be operated by Department of War personnel, CNN reported1. It also says DHS is solely responsible for system employment, use and development of tactics, techniques and procedures, according to the network1. A defense official told CNN that after seven months DHS can request further use based on need1. The Pentagon referred CNN to DHS1.
A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told CNN, "CBP is continually evaluating new technologies, especially those that enhance operational effectiveness and strengthen mission capabilities"1. CNN said the DHS request did not specify where or how the weapon would be tested or how it might be used1. Current and former CBP officials told CNN there have been internal discussions over the years about using it for crowd dispersal along the U.S.-Mexico border1.
The U.S. military briefly deployed the system to Afghanistan nearly two decades ago but declined to use it in combat, CNN reported1. Officials also considered it for crowd control at overseas facilities holding terrorist detainees and did not employ it there, according to a source cited by CNN1. In 2018, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen rejected using it against migrants, CNN said, citing a former DHS official1.
Former and current officials cited by CNN described past hurdles over legality, use of force, effectiveness, possible harm, and sovereignty if the system were used on people still in Mexico1. El Centro sector evaluated the system years ago when current CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott led that sector, a CBP official told CNN1. Some Border Patrol agents have more recently questioned the need amid lower crossings and more personnel, according to another former CBP official in that report1.
CNN said U.S. officials had also considered deploying the system during domestic unrest at the end of President Donald Trump's first term, according to a former official1. The network described border use as unprecedented if it proceeds1.