Normally, you’d expect robots to steal people’s jobs. Or in the case of an Alaskan robot disguised as a fox, steal wild animals’ jobs. But it looks like some Russian surveillance drones are getting the can. In favor of cyborg pigeons.

First and foremost, military drones are expensive. Russia proudly announced a new generation of the explosive-laden Garpiya-A1 kamikaze drone it’s using to bombard Odesa, Ukraine (Militarnyi.com). But a careful analysis of the new drone’s stats, and the wreckage of at least one that missed the good people of Odesa, shows that it’s a cheaper, lighter-weight version of Russia’s old kamikaze drone.

This makes sense: On the fourth anniversary of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, he’s averaging 44,000 Russian casualties a month. Not only is his invasion proving incredibly expensive, but he’s losing support back home. He currently controls less of Ukraine than he did in June 2022. So he must cut costs wherever possible. Enter the cyborg pigeons. 

Russian neurotech company Neiry has launched real-world trials of its “bio drone” program. The birds wear a little solar-panel backpack and a camera similar to traffic light license plate readers. It claims their flight isn’t random, but they can be “nudged” toward preset routes by a human “pilot.” No, this isn’t a gentle tap or shock. They’ve drilled into the pigeons’ heads and implanted neural implants.

Neiry claims the drones will only be for utilities, logistics, agriculture, and emergency response as it launches tests from its Dubai branch. But the potential military applications are hard to ignore. Neiry has experimented with neural implants in multiple species, and its creepy mission statement is to achieve  “Homo Perfectus.” But it may be going after some easy military contracts with its cost-effective surveillance drones.