Counter-Strike: How the Indian Army is training kites to fight Pakistani drones

 Taking a cue from the Netherlands and France, India is now training birds of prey to take on enemy drones. The move comes in the backdrop of incidents of unmanned aerial vehicles bringing drugs, arms, and ammunition across the border more than doubling from 2021The nearly two week exercise is aimed at enhancing interoperability and sharing expertise between both the armies in peacekeeping and disaster relief operations.

That the Indian Army would train kites to counter enemy drones makes sense given the renewed threat from drones coming from across the border.

The BSF, which guards over 3,000 km of the India-Pakistan International Border running across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu, recently said incidents of unmanned aerial vehicles bringing drugs, arms and ammunition from across the border have more than doubled from 2021.Border Security Force director-general Pankaj Kumar Singh described the frequency of incoming drones as a ‘bombardment’.

Though authorities have built a state-of-the-art laboratory to study drones as well as a drone repair lab in Delhi, the fact is that there is no silver bullet.

It also makes sense given the long history of animals being used during conflict – homing pigeons being used in the World Wars; Hawks being unleashed by the Germans to catch them in the Franco-Prussian war; dogs that find bombs and drugs and dolphins that detect mines.

Let’s take a closer look at how eagles and other birds are being trained to counter the drone problem in India and all over the world:

Telangana’s Garuda Squad

In 2020, the Telangana government gave the state’s Integrated Intelligence Training Academy (IIITA) the go-ahead to create the Garuda Squad “for training birds to neutralise drones during VIP/VVIP visits/programmes in the state”.

According to a Government Order issued by Finance Special Secretary Ronald Rose, the department also gave permission to engage the services of two resource persons on contract basis as trainers, under the administrative control of the DGP, with a fixed remuneration of Rs 35,000 and Rs 25,000 per month respectively.

The Netherlands

The Dutch Police in 2016 began working with the company Guard from Above, which called itself “the world’s first company specialised in training birds of prey to intercept hostile drones,” as per Nathab.com.

Guard from Above claimed that its eagles saw the drones as prey, intercepted them in the air and carried them to a spot away from other predators.

The eagles had a success percentage of 80 per cent with handlers keeping the birds in line by offering pieces of meat as a reward, as per the website.

“The animal instinct of a bird of prey is unique. They are made to be able to overpower fast-moving prey. Sometimes the solution to a hypermodern problem is more obvious than you might think,” a GFA statement said.

Mark Wiebes, a detective chief superintendent in the Dutch Police, said the melding of biology and science should come as no surprise, as per The New York Times.France

In 2017, France’s Army began training birds of prey to bring down remote-controlled drones when they enter no-go urban airspace.

Four golden eagles were receiving military training for combat against battery-charged drones that just about anybody can buy in a local store, and fly into security-sensitive zones such as presidential palaces, wittingly or not.

“These eagles can spot the drones several thousand meters (yards) away and neutralize them,” Jean-Christophe Zimmerman, a French air force general, told reporters.

The idea, he said, was inspired by Dutch police trials.

This came after drone flights over the Elysee presidential palace in early 2015 and a sensitive military site in the western region of Brittany raised alarm bells prompting adoption of legislation which restricts usage in urban areas and obliges users to notify their existence to the authorities.

The millennium-old art of falconry has an advantage over gun use, he said, in cases where large crowds are present, such as during annual street parades where thousands turn out to see fireworks shows or the country’s president on July 14, a national holiday.

In theory, the birds can grab or at least halt a drone, many of which are now sold in toy shops or stores for enthusiasts of remote-control objects – or would-be militants looking for a way to drop explosives from afar.

The eagles reduce the risk posed by use of bullets in crowded zone, said Zimmerman.

To prepare them, the baby eagles were placed before birth on top of drones while still inside the eggshell and, after hatching, kept them there during their early feeding period.

Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard soon followed in the Dutch Police’s footsteps, saying it was ‘examining the deployment of bald eagles’ amid concerns that the pilot-less aircraft can be used to smuggle items and drop explosives by terrorists.

The then Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, was reportedly said to be impressed with the Dutch initiative and was keen for London to trial the use of birds of prey against dangerous pilot-less aircraft controlled remotely.

The use of eagles was even discussed at a Met Police management meeting with a senior officer dispatched to the Netherlands to determine whether it could work in London.

“As would be expected in an organisation that is transforming, we take an interest in all innovative ideas and will of course be looking at the use of eagles by the Dutch police,” a Met Police spokesperson said at the time.

However, animal rights lovers expressed concern about the eagles being seriously injured and even killed by drone blades.

A National Geographic article quoted Kent Knowles, the president of the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia, as saying, “Bald eagles are not bird predators. They eat fish and carrion. Bald eagles are not falconry birds. [This type of hunting is] dangerous because drones are not like anything bald eagles or other birds of prey found in nature.”

Unfortunately, the Dutch programme was ultimately unsuccessful.

The Netherlands retired its trained eagles after a year-and-a-half of training because they did not always react the way they were supposed to and were distracted by goings-on during training sessions, as per The Hindu.

The Netherlands government also found the birds’ training and upkeep as an ‘unnecessary cost’.

The Dutch police turned to high-tech solutions such as anti-drone guns and drone shield ‘sky fences’, as per the report.

Alan McKenna, an associate lecturer in the law school at the University of Kent, told the New York Times he was sceptical that birds of prey would be adopted widely to deter the illegal use of drones, but he acknowledged they might be one part of the solution.

“You couldn’t have an eagle 24/7 in a particular area,” he said, adding that one possible use would be at public events like music festivals.

Yudh Abhyas

The nearly two week exercise began recently.

“The 18th Edition of India-US Joint Exercise #YudhAbhyas commenced today at Foreign Training Node, Auli. The aim of Joint Exercise is to enhance interoperability & share expertise between both the Armies in Peace Keeping & Disaster Relief Operations. #IndianArmy #IndiaUSFriendship,” the Army had tweeted on 19 November.

The exercise is conducted annually between India and the US with the aim of exchanging best practices, tactics, techniques and procedures between the armies of the two nations. The previous edition of the exercise was conducted at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska, the US in October 2021, officials said.

Surya Command, the official Twitter handle of the Army’s Central Command, also shared updates on the exercise.

“#YudhAbhyas22 Yoga practice by #USArmy and #IndianArmy troops in high altitude to still the mind and generate focussed application. @adgpi ProDefLko @SpokespersonMoD @USARPAC,” it tweeted on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Defence on 15 November had said that US Army soldiers of 2nd Brigade of the 11th Airborne Division and Indian Army soldiers from the Assam Regiment will be participating in the exercise.

It had said the training schedule focuses on employment of an integrated battle group under Chapter VII of the UN Mandate.

The schedule will include all operations related to peacekeeping and peace enforcement. The troops from both nations will work together to achieve common objectives, the ministry had said.

The joint exercise will also focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations. Troops from both nations will practice launching of swift and coordinated relief efforts in the wake of any natural calamity, the ministry had said.

The exercise will facilitate both armies to share their wide experiences, skills and enhance their techniques through information exchange.