You Won’t Believe What China Is Using To Protect Its Secret Air–force Base
As far as military, air force or naval installations are concerned, their security is of the top most priority. Defense forces take a lot of precautions to prevent unauthorized entry by trespassers or even ordinary tourists.
But what do you do when the intrusion is not human. A secrete air force base in China suffered such an intrusion and after trying multiple techniques to rid the nuisances, the officials chose to seek help from the animal world.
The Air Force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China has trained a group of macaques to help protect an air base close to Beijing. The monkeys have a very clear set of instructions. They have been specially trained to tackle the avian nuisance that the base is suffering from. These monkeys have been put here to take care of the huge flocks of birds that pose a threat to flights.
According to China’s Air Force News website, the macaques have been taught to destroy nests in nearby trees and chase away the birds. The birds aren’t a direct threat to the technology, but they do interfere with the smooth operation of the flight base, especially during landing and take–off. The birds have have become a major annoyance during the take-offs and landings of fighter planes in the base. The identity of the base was never and still hasn’t been revealed.
The base has used almost every imaginable means of tackling the bird problem. They have used firecrackers and scarecrows. The airbase even used loud firearms but nothing worked. Then they realized that monkeys could be trained in the art of organized destruction. The monkeys have proven to be so effective they are jokingly referred in military circles as “the Chinese army’s new secret weapon”, reported The Wire.
As with all things in the defense departments, every aspect is closely computed. According to official records, the monkeys are capable of destroying more than 180 nests close to the base at a rate of around six nests per monkey. The macaques respond with the obedience of a recruit to the whistles that their trainers use to give those orders, reports CNN.
The macaques usually tend to have the best temperament and are often used by street performers to play little tricks. The training is very similar to that of a dog’s and trainers use vocal commands including sound instruments to convey instructions. The macaque population in China is in abundance and hence it isn’t a problem to seek and train theses smart creatures.
As far as use of animals in the defense departments is concerned, it is a fairly common occurrence. However, use of monkeys is as uncommon as the usage of dolphins by the US to search, spot and mark undersea mines.
[Images via Bing]
