India's first drone-detection dog deployed at Attari

GS Paul

Amritsar, May 29

To thwart smuggling of arms and narcotics through drones from across the fencing, the Border Security Force (Punjab Frontier) has added a dog to assist troops in detecting the drone infiltration at Attari-Wagah joint check post.

Christened as “Frooti”, the dog (German Shepherd) has been deployed after undergoing special training at the BSF’s National Dog Training Centre at Tekanpur, Gwalior.

Since this breed has undisputed hearing ability to capture sound waves from a distance, it was selected and put under training and introduced to a particular sound generated by drones. With its deployment, “Frooti” has secured the title of being the India’s first trained dog in drone detection.

After a two-month training, “Frooti” has developed an ability to not only detect drone from a far-off distance, but also instantly pass on the signal to its master. Confirming this, a BSF official said though the BSF possess a trained dog squad to detect concealed narcotics and arms, but this new addition female dog has been trained additionally to catch the drone sound.

“It has got an ability of catching the sound resonance from a distance which human ears cannot do. Similar training is being given to more dogs, which will enable us to come up with an anti-drone dog squad,” he said. It is learnt that the US and Israel use identical trained dog squad to detect drones.

Ironically, the highest number of drone sightings and smuggling of arms and narcotics were reported along the Punjab border only. The drone detection dog squad would be introduced at this border in the first phase.

Punjab shares an approximately 553 km of International Border with Pakistan.