‘Pushpa’ joins India’s only avian squad trained to hunt drones

HYDERABAD: The Intelligence and Security Wing (ISW) of Telangana police has a new addition: Pushpa. No, it isn't the red sandalwood smuggler from the silver screen, but a majestic Bonelli's Eagle that soars in the skies and hunts down drones. Pushpa, along with Ambush, Missile, Prithvi, and another unnamed entrant, comprise the Garuda Squad – India's only avian drone hunting squadron.
The now five-member squad that first took root in 2019, comprises small-bodied kites and eagles trained to provide aerial surveillance to VIPs and VVIPs in public spaces, without the deployment of radio frequency jammers. The avian squad put up its first show on Feb 28 at the passing out parade of police canines at the Integrated Intelligence Training Academy (IITA) in Moinabad on the city outskirts in Rangareddy district.
"The use of birds is a unique way to provide anti-drone cover in a way that VIPs can use their electronic devices, like phones, to make important calls or send messages. While it was conceptualised six years ago, it took time to nurture, train and deploy them in our ranges to check their operational capabilities," said an official at IITA. "We chose the names because they are catchy."
Explaining why they created an avian squad, officials said that training birds is both a cheaper and reliable alternative to the conventional methods of counter-drone tactics. Mainstream methods include radio frequency (RF) jammers, high-power microwave pulses, and GPS spoofing devices.
"While these devices disable drones by interfering with their communication and navigation systems, eagles go straight for the prey," the official said.
The counter-drone birds are fitted with specialised nets to their talons, and when they approach the prey (drone), its rotors get stuck in them and are incapacitated. Once the handler gives a call, the bird flies directly to them and hands over the drone.
According to IITA officials, the avian squad has been attracting a lot of attention both at home and internationally. France and countries from the West Asia have also expressed interest in the technology.
"We got several calls enquiring about our birds. Many also made enquiries regarding our training methodologies," he added.
In India, interest is very high among central police forces, state police and even the premier National Security Guards (NSG), the official said.