The Dutch National Police in the Netherlands have begun to experiment with a way to deal with the increasing number of apparent rogue drones that keep filling the skies everywhere in the world. They have begun training eagles to attack and destroy these rogue drones.
A Dutch tech company called Guard From Above has taken the initiative to rid the skies over The Netherlands of these electronic pests and dangers. They began training the eagles because, as the company states, they wanted to find a “low tech solution to a high tech problem.”
Guard From Above see the bald eagles as being perfectly adapted to drone hunting. The company praises their characteristics of speed, power, and the innate ability to search for prey and overwhelm it with their force. For Guard From Above, and the Dutch National Police, the eagles have been a simple and effective way to deal with the overwhelming drone traffic that many countries in the world have been facing.
Last year, in the United States, airline pilots, both private and commercial, began to serious complain to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the number of near misses with drones. Sightings and near misses were beginning to average over 100 a month. So, the FAA went out and put some technology planning in place to bring the drones down. The FAA system uses radio signals to locate them and then employ tracking technology software to convince the drones to come down and land. Thus far, the FAA’s plan is only in the planning and trial stage and they have yet to put such a program into use out in the real world.
The Dutch, however, have a plan and continue to deploy it in the real world to great effect. There has been much published research about the increasing use of drones both by citizens looking for entertainment and by companies looking to use them to better their customer service. The FAA has guidelines for such uses but most people and companies just ignore them because there really is no enforcement or penalties assessed.
There was a recent report in Florida that had one homeowner taking matters into his own hands. As drones continued to buzz his neighborhood, every time one flew over his property, he promptly shot it down himself with a rifle or shotgun.
PHOTO CREDITS: Reuters