NEWS
The Korean Atomic Energy Group and LIG Nex 1 (an aerospace and defence subsidiary of LG Corporation) have jointly developed what they are calling the world’s first bird-strike defence robot. The robot is a six-wheeled unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that uses a combination of directional acoustics and laser patterns to scare birds away. The project was announced in 2009, and in late 2011, the first field trials were conducted at a South Korean military airbase. Now the system’s capabilities are being showcased at multiple airfields to international buyers. The designers claim that the UGV is 20 per cent more effective than the other current systems at combating the problem.

VIEWS
Bird strikes hav e been one of the biggest threats to aircraft—both civil and military—since the earliest days of aviation, with the first case reported by none other than Orville Wright in 1905. More than a century on, birdstrikes remain a significant threat to aircraft, and have been a key factor in hundreds of fatal plane crashes. As per the estimates given by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the birdstrike problem costs the US’ civil aviation alone in excess of $400 million ( Rs. 2,000 crore) annually and has resulted in over 200 deaths since 1988. Worldwide, the cost of birdstrikes to airlines is estimated to be $1.2 billion ( Rs. 6,600 crore) annually. This cost includes direct repair costs and lost revenue opportunities while the damaged aircraft are out of service. With almost 80 per cent of birdstrikes going unnoticed (not reported), it is estimated that the combined civil and military aircraft birdstrike incidents could well exceed 10,000 annually in the US.

On the civil aviation front, the greatest loss of life directly linked to a birdstrike occurred on October 4, 1960, when a Lockheed L-188 Electra of Eastern Air lines flying from Boston in US, flew through a flock of common starlings during take-off, damaging the aircraft’s all four engines. The aircraft crashed into Boston harbour with 62 fatalities. The greatest escape on the other hand, in a similar accident, occurred on January 15, 2009, when a US Airways’ twinjet airliner lost both its engines by running into a flock of geese soon after take-off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. The pilot exhibiting a tremendous sense of situational awareness and flying skill, and perhaps aided by the hand of God, successfully ditched the aircraft into Hudson River with no loss of life. On the military aviation front, one of the greatest tragedies occurred on September 23, 1995, when an E-3B Sentry AWACS aircraft of US Air Force ingested a flock of geese in two of its engines on take-off, resulting in a fatal crash, killing all 24 crew members on board.

On the home front, it is the Indian Air Force (IAF) which has suffered the most to birdstrikes because of its earlier emphasis on low-level operations and single-engine aircraft, especially the MiG-21s, which are highly susceptible to birdstrikes. Out of the nearly 1,000 aircraft lost since 1970 till date, the IAF lost close to 100 aircraft (mostly MiG-21s) due to birdstrikes alone.

In the worldwide efforts to reduce aircraft losses due to birdstrikes, the South Korean’s latest innovation could contribute a great deal with its high-tech capabilities. The sixwheeled UGV (see photo) measures about eight-feet-long and weighs 1.09 tonnes. It is rigged with a combination of directional acoustic transmission and detection, green laser transmission, day and night colour cameras, thermal imaging and laser scanners, and can perform day and night in any weather conditions to detect and scare birds away from designated areas. Up to four UGVs can be managed by a single control station.