BRITAIN'S SAS has revealed plans to cut down casualty rates in Iraq and Afghanistan by parachuting in German shepherds to spy on rebels.The Sun reports the dogs are being trained to leap from planes at 25,000ft wearing their own oxygen masks and strapped to special forces teams. Once they land, the dogs will lead the way by finding enemy hideouts with cameras fixed to their heads. The images will then be beamed back to the troops, warning of rebel locations and ambushes. The bold plan comes after three SAS troopers were shot dead on raids in Iraq over two years, with eight seriously wounded.
An SAS source told The Sun: "The dogs will be exposed to very high levels of danger on these operations and you never know what's going to be behind a door. Nobody wants to see the dogs get killed but if it's their life or a man's it is obvious which the commanding officer would prefer."
The dogs will be used in a precise manoeuvre technique called High Altitude High Opening, jumping as much as 35km from their targets and gliding towards them for up to 30 minutes.
Dogs were first trained to parachute in the Second World War by the British on rescue missions. But they have never jumped from high altitude, the best way for small groups of men to get behind enemy lines undetected. The dogs have big advantages over soldiers in that they arouse less suspicion approaching targets, can squeeze into tighter spaces and can sniff out booby-trap explosives. Two have been issued to each of the regiment's four squadrons with troopers specially selected to be their handlers.