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from the catch-and-release-into-custody dept.
The Dutch police have partnered with Guard From Above, a raptor training company based in The Hague, to determine whether eagles could be used as intelligent, adaptive anti-drone weapon systems. The eagles are specially trained to identify and capture drones, although from the way most birds of prey react to drones, my guess is that not a lot of training was necessary. After snatching the drone out of the sky, the eagles instinctively find a safe area away from people to land and try [to] take a couple confused bites out of their mechanical prey before their handlers can reward them with something a little less plastic-y. The advantage here is that with the eagles, you don't have to worry about the drone taking off out of control or falling on people, since the birds are very good at mid-air intercepts as well as bringing the drone to the ground without endangering anyone.
Video (in Dutch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HifO-ebmE1s
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 03 2016, @05:05PM
Do eagles need to trained to attack drones or will wild birds attack any drone including police drones?
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday February 03 2016, @05:53PM
Something of a guess but I suspect while wild birds do sometimes attack 'drones' it would tend to be a negative experience for them and thus unlikely to be repeated. They are probably a bit hurty to tackle and they are clearly not good eating. Since it's not something they see as food to begin with they aren't likely to even try it unless they somehow feel it is threatening or 'in their space' to begin with. The training is required to reinforce the behavior that would otherwise be extinguished - give the bird some tasty treats in exchange for the drone so that from their view it worked out well and should be repeated.
Someone mentioned it being hazardous for the raptor - well yes but no more so than other things they will naturally hunt for food. Particularly with the 'drones' that are shown in the article.
Which brings me to another point. When they say 'drones' it brings to mind perhaps a Predator or even a Reaper. But what they are talking about is nothing like that. What they appear to have their raptor attacking is nothing other than a small RC helicopter. Still not good eating, and potentially hurty, but a far cry from an actual drone. That thing can be safely nabbed, the only thing the bird needs to avoid is the rotors, and even if it gets hit with them that shouldnt wound it severely - only hurt it and motivate it to use a different grab next time.
IF they could handle drones rather than just small RC aircraft, I would expect at least a couple of drones to have been lost to birds in the "AF-PAK" area, as falconry is an ancient and still-practiced art in that area, with many practitioners and some of the largest eagles in the world.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?