Interesting! Katharina Bergdoll
watershed address: Newton's Pond>Beales Mill Run>Nomini Creek>Potomac
River>Chesapeake Bay>Atlantic Ocean
Taking "care" of undesirable drones. French military using winged
warriorsto hunt down rogue drones.This is amazing.
A golden eagle grabs a flying drone duringa military training exercise at
Mont-de-MarsanFrench Air Force base, Southwestern France.
Following incidents of drones flying overthe presidential palace and
restrictedmilitary sites – along with the deadly2015 Paris terror attacks – the
FrenchAir Force has trained four golden eaglesto intercept and destroy the
rogue aircraft.
Aptly named d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthosand Aramis – an homage to Alexandre
Dumas’“The Three Musketeers” – the four birdsof prey have been honing their
attackskills at the Mont-de-Marsan insouthwestern France since mid-2016.
“A drone means food for these birds,” Falconer, told FRANCE 24 . “Now they
automatically go after them .”
The use of hunting birds – normally falcons and northern goshawks –
bymilitaries around the globe is common practice in the fight to scare
othercritters away from runways and so cut the risk of accidents during
takeoffor landing. But it wasn’t until 2015 when the Dutch started using bald
eagles tointercept drones that other militaries started to see the benefit of
thesewinged warriors.
The French bred the four golden eagles – three males and one female --
usingartificial insemination since eagles are a protected species and
harvesting wildeggs is strictly forbidden. They chose the golden eagle because
of the birds hookedbeak and sharp eyesight.
Also weighing in around 11 pounds, the birds are in a similar weight class as
thedrones they’re sent to destroy and clocking in at a top air speed of 50
miles per hour,with the capability of spotting its target from over a mile
away, the eagles aredeft hunters.
To protect the eagles from drone blades and any explosive device that might be
attached to them, the French military designed mittens of leather and Kevlar
(an anti-blast material), to protect thebird’s talons.
A golden eagle carries a flying drone (2017)."I love these birds," Machoukow
toldgence France-Presse. "I don't want to send them to their death."The birds
are first taught to attack in a straight line before graduating to divingfrom
heights. Soon they’ll be patrolling the skies over the Pyrenees Mountains
insouthern France and could possibly be deployed at airports and special
events,such as political summits and soccer tournaments.The French air force
already expects four more eagles to join the fleet.
