French Air Force employing eagles as anti-drone measure

In France, there have been growing concerns over the threat of drones since the start of a wave of terrorist attacks over the past two years. And in spring last year, authorities were worried about a spate of mysterious drone flights over famous landmarks in central Paris, including the Elysée Palace. So they did the only sensible thing, they decided to train eagles to take down drones.

#PointPresse : pour la lutte anti drone, des solutions transitoires pertinentes et des perspectives. pic.twitter.com/uIgFUiMjuy

— Armée de l’air (@Armee_de_lair) November 17, 2016

The air force acquired four royal eagle eggs and two goshawk eggs, which is another powerful bird they are trialling. The eagles reached adult size earlier this year and went into anti-drone training.

Given the he “Excellent results”, they intend to put the four eagles into service starting Early next year.

There are other countries working with birds to take down drones, here is a video of a Dutch Police eagle.