CHANDIGARH: In a first in the country, the Border Security Force (BSF) has trained dogs to detect drones that come from the Indo-Pak international border carrying payload of drugs and weapons. The ears of these canines can pick up the mechanical buzzing sound of flying machines, a sound that the ears of humans usually do not detect.
Sources said that four dogs have been trained at National Training Centre for Dogs (NTCD) in Tekanpur, Gwalior, for the Punjab frontier of the BSF. These four dogs have already been deployed on duty. Most dogs belong to the labrador retriever breed. Additionally, 14 more dogs are currently being trained.
"The dogs can pick up the buzzing sound of the drones known as auditory signatures as they have an ability of catching the sound resonance from a distance which human ears cannot do, and then the dogs alert our troopers who can then shoot down these flying machines," said a senior functionary of the BSF on condition of anonymity.
"The dogs can easily detect them during night and early morning or late evening as at that time other sounds in the vicinity are less, so they will be used accordingly to detect the drones,’’ he said. He added that it is imperative to train dogs, given the increasing menace of smugglers and militants based in Pakistan sending drugs and weapons via the drones.
An official said that the drones are fitted with GPS so that the consignments are dropped at a pre-decided location from the international border. The dogs will immediately give an alert whenever a drone enters our side of the border, and they will be more useful during the winters when the movement of these flying machines increases in dense fog, he said.
The force also uses different sniffer dogs from its K9 unit to trace drugs or explosives dropped by the drones in the field.
Confirming the development, Inspector General of BSF (Punjab Frontier), Atul Fulzele, said that dogs have been trained to detect drones as they can hear the humming sound of the UAV. "Since the dogs has undisputed hearing ability to capture sound waves from a distance, they are trained in this regard and introduced to a particular sound generated by drones," he said.
Sources said that from January till date, 175 drones have been shot down by the BSF, while a total of 294 drones were neutralised by the force last year. In 2023, 107 drones were seized.
It is learnt that the US and Israel use identical trained dog squad to detect drones.
A worrying trend has emerged, as these drones, mostly of Chinese origin are now flying at altitudes of 1,000 meters. This enables them to drop narcotics, arms and ammunition deep inside Indian territory, reaching new locations approximately four to five kilometres from the border.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that these drones fly from launch pads near Lahore and have been recorded dropping consignments as deep as 20 kilometres inside Indian territory. The officer noted that the drones are now operating at higher altitudes to avoid detection, shifting from the previous flying range of 300 to 400 meters. Additionally, they have changed their dropping zones, as they no longer use traditional areas near the border, indicating a strategy to find new locations for their operations.
Sources in the BSF indicate that all recovered drones are DJI Mavic series, manufactured in China by a private firm in Shenzhen. These GPS-enabled quad copters weigh less than one kilogram, can fly up to 75 kilometres per hour, and reach altitudes of 6,000 meters. They have an endurance of around 40 minutes and can be controlled by radio link from a distance of up to 30 kilometres.
Punjab shares approximately 553 km of international border with Pakistan. Thus, it remains the most active region for drug smuggling via drones, closely followed by the Sri Ganganagar area in the Rajasthan frontier, due to the proximity of dense habitations and numerous link roads along the border.