Navy SEALs to deploy armoured dogs in A'stan

Latest from the Wars On Stuff: The Register has learned that top-secret, super-elite US Navy SEAL special forces are to deploy heavily armoured bulletproof dogs equipped with infrared nightsight cameras and an "intruder communication system" able to penetrate concrete walls. 'Cara' and handler Mike Forsythe during their world …

[Paranoid Consultant]

But do they poop and scoop?

I hope they remember the poo-bags with all that extra exquipment.

[Brutus]

Is there an equivalent

Assi9 storm for flying donkeys?

[Marvin the Martian]

That would be

Assassi9 Storm then.

[Red Bren]

Dogs? Pah!!!

The Ruskies can parachute donkeys!

[Bruce Clare]

Cry havoc!

...And let slip the dogs of war.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Let's hope the parachutist doesn't...

...else there'd be an awful splat.

[Whirlpool]

Parachuting dog / Parascending donkey???

So,let me get this right. Taking a dog along for a freefall parachute jump, complete with oxygen mask, is completely fine, but strap a donkey to the back of a speedboat and the media whips up into a frenzy?

Perhaps the Russian businessmen should have claimed to be military...

Badgers because... Well, perhaps they could ride the attack dogs and rip the faces off any insurgents who don't do as they're told over the intercom?

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Parachuting dog / Parascending donkey???

Berk.

[Steven Raith]

Berk?

In the finest cockney sense, one assumes?

If so, I approve wholeheartedly.

Steven R

[Thomas 4]

Not bad...

Get back to me when they have frikkin' lasers attached to their heads.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh great.

This war has now officially gone to the dogs.

[Marvin the Martian]

So essentially

These dogs are better protected than british squaddies already on the ground?

[Techno]

why not...

SEAL Pups...

[Riscyrich]

@ Brutus

LMAO

[Graham Bartlett]

Time for the blind parachutist joke, methinks

"How do you know when to brace for landing?"

"Well, my guide-dog's lead goes slack..."

And now I'll leave you with a bit of Elvis Presley:-

You ain't nothin' but a hound-dog, flyin' all the time

You ain't nothin' but a hound-dog, flyin' all the time

You ain't never caught a bullet an' you ain't no friend of mine...

[Jerome 2]

My cat got shot the other day

As far as I'm aware he wasn't parachuting into Afghanistan - I imagine he was taking a quiet dump in the garden of a mental person, or similar feline pass time. Anyway, he's on the mend now and having seen this article I'd really like to get him some feline body armour for his night time special ops missions in the red zone of our village (just up from the post office).

So far I've found this:

http://jeffdeboer.com/Galleries/CatsandMice/tabid/77/moduleid/433/viewkey/photo/photoid/120/Default.aspx

And this:

http://www.fataldimensions.org/pics/grayskull-castle/battlecat.jpg

Not sure about pricing and availability though, and they haven't got that 'desert camo' look that would go so nicely with his fur. Any suggestions gratefully received :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Missing information

How exactly do you train a dog that's prepared to fall out the back of a plane without chewing its handler's arm off?

[sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD]

Dogs...

Errr... never underestimate how crazy dogs are/can be.

I know quite a few that I would wager would have no qualms of making a drop like that. I think the general rule of thumb is, if the master is mad enough to do something, usually the dog will follow (because in all likelihood, the pooch is just as mad).

[Eduard Coli]

Not something a mog would do

A mog would not be cause dead literally and figuratively in this kit.

They will just stay at home and reap the billions being made off of slogging kit at inflated prices to Uncle Spam. That what this war is for now is it not?

[Anonymous Coward]

No big deal really

Didn't the Ruskies use especially trained canines carrying high explosives to attack armoured vehicles way back in 1943-1945?

And I'd guess that dog's have featured quite a lot in military history (and not just as mascots).

[neb]

@No big deal really

yup!

but the dogs were trained on russian tanks(diesel)

so when released on the battlefield would run to the nearest tank(diesel) or crap themselves and dive back where they'd been released from and kaplooey

instant green on green!(the boxheads using petrol, the dogs were confused by the scent)

the dog armour idea sounds like its been ripped from world war z(the k9 units)

the Z's are a coming, sharpen your lobos people!

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow! Home runs with hi-ex?

Sounds a bit hit-and-miss for the dog handlers.

[asiaseen]

"intruder communication system"

Woof woof

[JaitcH]

When I was in the Army ...

we were set some tasks in order to get weekend passes.

On only one occasion the challenge was to fight off an attack dog. Unfortunately the soldiers determination in getting away for the weekend, complete with free rail pass, cost one dog it's life and two others were retired invalided out of their careers.

These armoured dogs will have some weaknesses and as sure as hell their effectiveness challenged. If they can bite, they are vulnerable. They should try throwing a mixture of powdered anise (aniseed) and dried blood at them and watching their reaction.

I do have a couple of questions, though. (1) Why are Navy Seals operating in one of the most parched countries around; (2) Seals usually attack ships, and most ships are made of steel, so how will their wondrous through the wall vision equipment work?

Sounds like typical 'enlightened' military thinking.

[Trygve Henriksen]

Contrary to belief...

The SEALS can do more than swim...

They train with the best special-forces teams around the world for all types of warfare; SBS in England for maritime, FSK in Norway for arctic/high altitude, GSG9 in Germany and so on.

The dogs they take with them are not 'figting dogs' in the traditional sense, but bomb-sniffers and other specialised activity dogs.

[jake]

@JaitcH

"we were set some tasks in order to get weekend passes."

Lurvley.

"On only one occasion the challenge was to fight off an attack dog. Unfortunately the soldiers determination in getting away for the weekend, complete with free rail pass, cost one dog it's life and two others were retired invalided out of their careers."

What a fucking waste (if true, which I doubt). I strongly suggest you blow the whistle on whoever it was that was in charge of your unit ... both for wasting national resources, AND for allowing incompetents to train dogs. I guarantee you that none of your squaddies could possibly take out one of my SchH3 dogs in a one-on-one ,,,

Spices & blood won't affect a working dog ... Not even Hollywood's proverbial "ground coffee". Dogs ignore any scent that they aren't trained to alert on. Are you sure you know what you are talking about?

Your commentary on SEALs further gives me cause to doubt your story.

[Trygve Henriksen]

Agreed!

Back in my military days I was stationed near the dog handlers' offices and training grounds, and we had strict orders to:

1. Not approach the dogs under ANY circumstances, not even when the handlers are there.

2. If you come across one of the dogs that are loose, DO NOT MOVE. Yes, it will bite you... HARD! But that's nothing compared to what it'll do if you try to resist.

Also, dogs like these aren't 'retired'. That would imply them leaving the compound...

[Martin Maloney]

@Graham Bartlett

Q: Why don't blind people parachute jump?

A: Because it scares the shit outta the dog!

Martin

[Graham Bartlett]

@Jaitch

That's pretty sickening. Fighting another soldier, you both know when enough is enough. And one normal dog fighting another, the dogs know when enough is enough.

But an attack dog has been meticulously trained so that it will *not* give up, so you really do have to kill it or injure it severely enough that it can't move. I'm assuming we're talking bare hands here too, so that also means it wouldn't die quickly - I presume basically kicked to death.

I really hope the dog handler took a suitable attitude to this, and a suitable length of steel pipe to the training guys involved. There are definitely good reasons to send trained dogs into a situation where they might get killed - but a pit-fight as a laugh for squaddies is not one of them.

[Graham Bartlett]

@Mike Richards

Pretty easy to train a dog to do strange stuff. I know a lot of labradors and border collies which would happily follow their ball anywhere, whether or not their owner was going with them. But anyway, with the kind of setup pictured the dog is in a nice safe (from its point of view) pouch attached to its owner. Get it used to staying in the pouch, and the owner can do just about anything.