India using drone-hunting birds in drills with the US

India's military showed off trained kites swooping down through mountain ranges to take out drones as part of ongoing high-altitude drills with the US military less than 100km (62 miles) away from the border with China, drawing strong objections from Beijing.

- SHWETA SHARMA

The two militaries kicked off the 18th edition of the US-Indian joint exercises known as "Yudh Abhyas" (war practise) in Auli, in India's northern Uttarakhand state, earlier this month.

The drills, which began on 16 November and are spanning 15 days, are taking place on Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain range in India. They are focused on sharing technology and know-how specifically for high-altitude skirmishes and warfare in extremely cold weather. The soldiers of the two armies dropped from helicopters to flush out simulated gunmen from a remote house, demonstrating combat skills with different weapons systems and mountain warfare skills like rappelling and ziplining across or down cliffs.

A video from the drills purported to show a trained kite named Arjun soaring skywards on command, taking down a quadcopter drone and flying off to carry out another surveillance mission. "Indian army troops are using trained kites to prey on enemy drones in a first-of-its-kind usage of these birds. [The] Indian army is using trained kites along with dogs for military operations," army officials said, according to the ANI agency.