Need for New Tech Grows as Air Force's Bird Strike Mission Expands

By Oriana Pawlyk

If Dan Sullivan could use small drones to keep an eye in the sky over U.S. air bases, he would. But that may be a future strategy to survey wildlife lurking near military airfields, posing a risk to aircraft.

Drones would negate the need for airmen to suit up and wade through swampy areas around bases to look for animals. And "if your drone is equipped with a forward-looking infrared, at night it could pick up deer, hogs, coyotes ... and having that drone pick up heat flying around, that would be a great asset for a BASH program," Sullivan, the Air Force's wildlife biologist and the Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard chief, said in a recent interview with Military.com.

While drone use remains debatable in terms of safety and vulnerabilities, Sullivan said there is a growing need for them and other technologies as wildlife finds refuge near installations that house major aviation operations.

But for now, he said, he'll settle for having more airmen trained in spotting bothersome wildlife and how to safely confront it. "I'm looking to institute a more in-depth training [program] here at the [Air Force Safety Center], more for folks that are boots on the ground."

'A Little War'

Sullivan, who oversees the BASH program, which is headquartered at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, said he sees the "threat" of wildlife increasing because the U.S. has some of the best wildlife conservation programs in the world.

Full Article: https://www.military.com/defensetech/2018/08/14/need-new-tech-grows-air-forces-bird-strike-mission-expands.html