Dr. Mostafa Hassanalian of New Mexico Tech has revealed the development of drones built from the bodies of taxidermied birds. While the purpose of the development is aimed at advancing wildlife research efforts, the drones’ realistic appearance and quiet operation has the potential to enable surveillance UAS to elude certain detection methods.
While this is not an entirely new approach, the ongoing development of such systems reinforces the need for efficient UAS detection solutions.
Although Hassanalian disavows surveillance applications, stating, “That has not been our intention at all. We are not looking at that application because we don’t think that’s an efficient way, and it’s not moral, it’s not ethical,” the capabilities of these drones could easily be adapted for espionage or other hostile purposes.
These drones, crafted from bird bodies and retrofitted with robotic technology, move and fly like their real counterparts, offering unique capabilities for covert operations.
“The current drones that they are being used for wildlife monitoring, like hexacopter or quadcopter, they create lots of noise, and animals will be scared and scattered,” Hassanalian explained.
This same feature could pose a challenge for C-UAS technologies that rely on visual identification or sound-based tracking. In operational settings, drones that blend seamlessly into natural environments may evade detection by radar or other surveillance systems.
Speaking at the Counter UAS Homeland Security 2024 conference Brooke Tapsall, CEO of DroneALERT, shared details of a red teaming operation that utilised biomimicry drones that resemble birds to fool blue team detection methods.
The drone blended seamlessly into a flock of migrating birds and, while it was detected by radar, was discounted by operators. Utilising taxidermied birds for biomimicry could add an extra layer of authenticity to such drones.
Hassanalian’s comments on the application of such drones in border security highlights their dual-use potential. Hassanalian suggested that their inconspicuous design could aid in monitoring without arousing suspicion. Such drones are less likely to be reported if flying by sensitive, critical infrastructure locations, especially those that lack dedicated UAS detection capabilities.
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