Dogs of war: SAS trains canines to parachute into enemy territory to help fight insurgents

mailonsunday.co.uk ^ | July 21, 2008

[Free ThinkerNY]

The SAS is training dogs to parachute into enemy territory on missions to sniff out insurgents and warn of ambushes.

The German Shepherds are being taught to jump from planes at high altitude wearing their own oxygen masks and strapped to soldiers.

Once on the ground they can be released into enemy territory with miniature cameras mounted to their heads.

Live images of enemy positions and possible ambush sites can be relayed back to special forces teams in safe positions.

The dogs will be earmarked for use in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[xDGx]

PETA is gonna stroke out over this...

[kms61]

I understand the purpose is to save human lives, but as a dog person, I confess that it makes me uneasy, too.

[gorush]

The feline unit was already deployed...

[driftdiver]

But then again Dogs offend muslims so the entire plan will eventually be scrapped.

[driftdiver]

That little girl is gonna have a hard landing.

[Wiseghy]

It looks like they are jumping with their handler attached.
Not sure this is too much different from the bomb and security missions they are doing now. Even off leash, they rarely go beyond range of a shouted command from the handler. I suspect they also have radio recievers and GPS should they stray out of range.

The bond of handler and dog lasts for years and seems to go beyond that of most human relationships, so I suspect they will be OK in the field.

[rahbert]

These dogs are trained to lie down toward Mecca five times a day, so no worries.

[KarlInOhio]

It looks like they are jumping with their handler attached.

Too bad. I had visions of the jumpmaster tossing a steak out of the plane with 20 German shepherds leaping out to get it.

[kennyboy509]

Dog Soldiers!

[Joe 6-pack]

This may be new in theatre, but the concept is hardly innovative...

[HardStarboard]

The dogs are their own jumpmasters....they sniff out the Muslim target from 3,000 ft. and out the door they go.

[JRandomFreeper]

The top picture reminds me of the orange cat picture with the "WTF R U Doin" caption.

/johnny

[snippy_about_it]

I’m against it too. Not against using dogs in war but against using them in place of bombing the heck out of these enemy territories in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I think we are going through these huge areas of enemy territory trying to go house to house, as in person to person to weed them out. I prefer WWII methods.

[jamaksin]

SAS Motto - Who Dares Wins - even without following the citations for those too lazy (viz., LS) to do so!

[Brad’s Gramma]

GOOD dog!

[driftdiver]

At least they aren’t turkeys.

[Joe 6-pack]

"The top picture reminds me of the orange cat picture with the "WTF R U Doin" caption."

LOL...it does. In typical military fashion, I also love the "This End Up" arrows on the sling harness...surely those aren't there for the dog's reference!