Robotic Coyotes Patrol Pensacola: $2M Drones, Blue Angels, Bird Chaos
Robotic coyotes at Naval Air Station Pensacola guard Blue Angels’ $2M jets, using unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) with life-sized plastic predator mounts. Trending queries like “Do airports use robots for bird control?” and “How do military bases prevent bird strikes?” collide as ERDC’s Shea Hammond quips, “That was, I guess, the money shot,” about the surreal sight of coyote robots standing sentry over high-octane aircraft.
Blue Angels’ plastic coyote guardians, unveiled by Army engineers, outpace live hawks and radar at deterring birds. Their “Coyote Rover” tech, tested at Pensacola, now tops searches like “Robotic animal deterrents for military” and “Best ways to prevent bird strikes.” Imagine a Roomba with fangs, programmed to harass wildlife but politely avoid the airstrip—Hammond notes, “We can program areas we want to exclude it from going, such as the airfield itself.”
In Bangor, Washington, the Navy once hired hawk handlers to shoo seagulls off submarines—now, Pensacola’s elite jets are defended by four-wheeled coyote robots, each worth more than a flock of hawks.
