Indian soldiers equipped kites with $40 AliExpress cameras to fight against drones and spy on Chinese military
Birds of prey have been adopted by the Indian army, which conducts joint exercises with the U.S. military, much to the dismay of China.
Here's What We Know
Indian soldiers use kites to spy on the Chinese military and to counteract drones. One of the birds has the nickname Arjun. The kite has been trained to take off on alarm and attack an enemy drone by tearing it apart with its claws.
It's a plane, no it's a bird ???? !!
- Ashwini Shrivastava (@AshwiniSahaya) November 30, 2022
Indian Army's drone predator kite 'Arjun' ????????????
Army's training eagles & falcons to swoop down on hostile drones. pic.twitter.com/TH4SCdcQYn
Arjun got a GPS sensor and a camera. Trained with simple commands, the bird flies over Chinese territory, and the camera captures everything that happens on the ground, allowing the Indian military a bird's eye view of what their "colleagues" are doing.
#WATCH | A Kite trained by the Indian Army to prey on drones displayed in action at the ongoing Indo-US wargame Yudhabhyas in Auli, Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/Bjha3gKaNS
- ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2022
The irony is that the Indian military is using a Chinese 5.8 GHz camera to spy on China. More specifically, the FX798T Micro FPV. It uses a 1S Lipoly battery or a 5V bus. The camera sells on AliExpress for $40. It has dimensions of 17 x 17.5 x 12, 5 mm and weighs less than 4 g.
Source: The Defense Post