VLADIMIR Putin’s scientists have launched a squadron of remote controlled spy pigeons fitted with brain implants.
A Kremlin-backed Moscow neurotechnology firm boasts its operators can steer flocks across the sky by zapping signals directly into their brain.
Russia’s sick “bird-biodrones” codenamed PJN-1 are ordinary pigeons surgically implanted with neural chips that allow technicians to direct their routes.
Field tests are being carried out using birds with electrodes inserted into their brains connected to tiny solar-powered backpacks containing onboard electronics, GPS tracking, and a receiver.
Russian tech firm Neiry chillingly claims “no training is required” and birds can be steered remotely in any direction.
Neiry claims the birds can fly 310 miles a day, or more than 1,850 miles in a week on spy missions but bigger birds may soon be weaponised.
They include seagulls, and even albatrosses for large marine missions – but Niery have not revealed how many birds were killed by its brain experiments.
Alexander Panov, company founder, said: “Right now, the solution works on pigeons, but any bird can be used as the carrier.
“For transporting heavier payloads we plan to use ravens.”
Russia has previously trained combat dolphins to patrol seas, attack underwater saboteurs or plant limpet mines or carry out reconnaissance.
Sources inside Russian neuro-tech company Neiry claim pigeons can now be steered in real time after operators upload commands directly into their brains.
The firm boasts the pigeons simply “believe it wants to fly” in whatever direction the handler chooses.
The sinister system relies on surgery so precise that electrodes are inserted into the brain within millimetres.
Once fitted, the birds wear mini solar-powered backpacks packed with electronics, GPS tracking kits and receivers that beam signals straight into their neural implants.
Neiry insists its invention requires zero training.
The company boasts that “no training is required”, adding that “any animal becomes remotely controllable after the operation”.
With pigeons capable of flying 310 miles a day, more than 1,850 miles in a week, the potential reach of these Franken-birds is huge.
The company’s founder, Alexander Panov, says the tech will soon expand beyond pigeons.
“Right now, the solution works on pigeons, but any bird can be used as the carrier,” he said.
“For transporting heavier payloads we plan to use ravens, for coastal monitoring – seagulls, and for large marine territories – albatrosses.”
Neiry has not confirmed how many birds have died during or after the invasive surgery.
It only says it is “striving for a 100 per cent survival rate”.
The firm frames the programme as a tool for guarding sensitive sites.
It claims the flock-steering device can be deployed for “monitoring and guarding sensitive facilities”.
But security experts warn the biodrones could easily be diverted into espionage or military missions.
Because pigeons are everywhere in Russia’s cities, they could blend into crowds while secretly carrying spy cameras or sensors.
The same tech could allow them to sweep war zones – including Ukraine -without being detected as surveillance devices.
Neiry describes the altered birds as almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
“The pigeon-biodrone PJN-1 differs from an ordinary bird only by the neuro-interface wire protruding from its head and the small backpack containing electronics,” the company said.
“Its main purpose is to provide almost any type of monitoring – for example environmental or industrial – to carry out search-and-rescue operations, and to serve as an additional security layer.”
The firm says biodrones are its latest breakthrough.
“The ‘biodrones’ are Neiry’s ‘new product’,” the company declares.
It says the project replaces traditional unmanned aerial vehicles entirely.
“Instead of a flying machine, scientists and engineers have begun using living birds with a chip in their brain.
“Thanks to the neurochip, the biodrone’s operator can control the bird by uploading a flight assignment to it, just like with an ordinary UAV.
“An important difference between a biodrone and a trained animal is that no training is required.
“Any animal becomes remotely controllable after surgery.
“Thanks to neuro-stimulation of specific areas of the brain, the bird itself ‘wants’ to move in the desired direction.”
The miniature backpack is powered by solar panels fixed to the bird’s back.
Neiry claims the tech is safe for urban areas.
“The risk of a biodrone falling or crashing is low and equals the natural probability of a bird falling from the sky. Therefore, biodrones can be safely used in cities.”
Inside the pigeon’s brain, electrodes run to a stimulator linked to the backpack.
“The pigeon’s brain contains electrodes connected to a stimulator and located in the backpack on the bird’s back.
“The stimulator sends impulses influencing the bird’s motivation to turn left or right, for example. System positioning is performed using GPS and other methods.”
The company has previously faced outrage for implanting neurochips into cows in an attempt to boost milk production.
Neiry is deeply entwined with Russia’s state-backed tech machine.
It has won financing from the National Technology Initiative (NTI) and investment outfits linked to RDIF – the Kremlin’s sovereign wealth fund.
RDIF is run by Kirill Dmitriev, a close Putin ally currently acting as a negotiator in talks with the US over the war in Ukraine.
Neiry is also plugged into the Skolkovo innovation hub – long portrayed as Russia’s own Silicon Valley.
The bird-control scheme echoes old Soviet experiments with combat animals.
Russia has long trained dolphins for military use — including underwater patrols, mine-laying and sabotaging enemy divers.
Images show these dolphins used to guard sea bases, attack underwater targets or plant limpet mines in covert operations.
The deadly programme dates back to Soviet times.
And now Russia appears poised to unleash its next biological weapon -pigeons whose minds are no longer their own.