Latest Navy SEAL K9's Equipped with Live Camera, Kevlar Vest, and Night-Vision Goggles

Reaganite Republican ^ | 10 April 2014 | reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

Cairo -pictured above- is (like most canine members of the elite 

U.S. Navy SEALs) a Belgian Malinois...

The breed is similar to a German Shepherd but a bit smaller/more compact -adult male cca 65 lbs- and is therefore considered better for various parachute jumping and rappelling operations with the USN's SEAL teams. 

This particular dog was the one who first entered the Abbottabad compound the night night that SEAL Team Six got Bin Laden. He even got to meet President Obama afterward, although it's doubtful the dog was impressed... these things can smell weakness a mile away-

Like their human counterparts, the K9 SEALs are highly trained, highly skilled, highly motivated special ops experts- capable of performing extraordinary military missions by SEa, Air and Land, or 'SEAL'.

The K9s carry out a wide range of specialized duties for the various military teams to which they are attached: with a sense of smell 40x greater than a human’s, they are trained to detect and identify both explosive material and hostile and/or hiding individuals. 

Thinking of running? lol, good luck with that: these powerful pups are at least twice as fast as any human being, so anyone trying to escape on foot is unlikely to outrun Cairo... or his buddies.... nor their teeth, which will be sunk deep into yer America hatin' rear-end, son.

The dogs -equipped with realtime video cameras atop their backs- often enter danger zones first, acting as scouts that provide live imagery recon, much as a drone can from the air these days. SEAL dogs are even trained parachutists, jumping either in tandem with their handlers or solo if the jump is into water- these little guys are plenty capable.

In 2010, canine parachute instructor Mike Forsythe and his dog Cara set the world record for highest man-dog parachute deployment, leaping from 30,000+ ft.... yep, up where the 747s are. Of course both he and the dog were wearing oxygen masks and skin protectors for the jump, as show in pic below (by Andy Anderson for K9 Storm Inc).

In addition to their many other desirable qualities, the dogs are faithful, fearless and ferocious -incredibly frightening and efficient attackers when called upon to do so. 

When SEAL Team 6 hit bin Laden’s Pakistan compound on May 2nd, 2011, Cairo’s feet were the first four on the ground. Like the human SEALs, Cairo was wearing super-strong, flexible body armour outfitted with high-tech equipment that included “doggles”- especially designed and fitted dog googles with night-vision and infrared capability that would even allow Cairo to see human heat forms right-through concrete walls... 

Founder Jim Slater was a canine handler on the Winnipeg Police Force when he crafted a Kevlar protective jacket for his own dog, Olaf, in the mid-1990s. Soon Slater was making body armour for other police dogs... then the Canadian military... and soon the world. The pioneering business is currently based out of Ottowa. The standard K9 Storm vest also has a load-bearing harness system that makes it ideal for tandem rappelling and parachuting.

Special hi-tech add-ons made the K9 Storm especially appealing to the American SEALs, who have been buying K9 Storm Inc.’s top-end Intruder “canine tactical assault suits” at $86,000 a pop. Here’s an explanation of all the K9 Storm Intruder special features- this is really something else:

And just as the Navy SEALS and other elite special forces are at the cutting edge of their profession, so too are their dogs at the top of a canine military heirarchy. In all, the U.S. military currently has about 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed around the world.


Pics at Reaganite Republican

______________________________________________

h/t Kirby

Not sure where all data/pics emanated from originally, 

but most of this was posted previously online/updated 

by the Toronto Sun.

[Reaganite Republican]

***ping***

[JoeProBono]

[Mich Patriot]

Great story and great pics at the site. Thanks for sharing, RR.

[rktman]

Night vision goggles? I always thought K-9’s could see pretty durn good in the dark. I know mine can see stuff that I don’t have a clue is there. (Of course some people tell me I’m pretty clueless...most of the time.. :>})

[Former Proud Canadian]

"...with a sense of smell 40x greater than a human’s,..."

I was under the impression that a dog's sense of smell was orders of magnitude greater than a human's. Much more than 40 times better.

[ozarkgirl]

That is just way too cool! Man’s best friend.

[Abathar]

Imagining our golden retriever with night vision goggles...

Playing fetch with the tennis ball at 3 a.m. is about all it would be good for, maybe a few fun rounds of “Get The Kitty!” with the neighbors cat.

[rockinqsranch]

Thanks for that one RR. Good one. Sent it off to family, and friends in Arizona, Oregon, and S. Carolina just a moment ago. Knowin’ them it won’t stop there.

[nixonsnose]

the goggles let them see what forms through concrete walls.

[Reaganite Republican]

Much obliged, sir

[needmorePaine]

"...with a sense of smell 40x greater than a human’s,..."
I was under the impression that a dog's sense of smell was orders of magnitude greater than a human's. Much more than 40 times better.

I thought so too. Maybe they are referring to the portion of the brain that controls smells.

From a site called dogbreedinfo.com: "While a dog's brain is only one-tenth the size of a human brain, the part that controls smell is 40 times larger than in humans. A dog’s sense of smell is about 1,000 to 10,000,000 times more sensitive than a human’s (depending on the breed). A human has about 5 million scent glands, compared to a dog, who has anywhere from 125 million to 300 million (depending on the breed)."

[Reaganite Republican]

Infrared would allow the dog to see heat, which even their excellent night vision doesn’t make capable naturally

Particularly tanks or other metallic objects I reckon

[Hulka]

Seeing that dog closing on me I would bend over and kiss my behind goodby before that monster chews it off.

[rktman]

LOL! What’s next? Some Ray-bans or Maui Jims?

[Psalm 73]

"...outfitted with high-tech equipment that included “doggles”- especially designed and fitted dog googles with night-vision..."

They could have just used an attack cat - comes with his own night-vision goggles....

[onedoug]

...first entered the Abbottabad compound the night night that SEAL Team Six got Bin Laden.

soebarkah is a pathological liar. Is there any other evidence that this indeed took place?

Any time this pipsqueak says something, it's time to take the other tack.

Okay. Back to the dogs.

[Pecos]

Our attack cat must be saving himself for “the big one”, based on the percentage of his life that he spends sleeping.... Either that, or he knows we have an alarm system as our first trip wire.

[TexasRepublic]

“He even got to meet President Obama afterward”

Poor dog. Abusing an animal is just wrong.