London, December 22 (ANI): Drugged bears were used in testing of the pilot ejection systems of the Convair B-58 Hustler during the Cold War, only to be later put down so the impact on their bodies could be determined by post-mortem, it has been revealed.
The animals were ejected at various speeds and altitudes to determine how well the system worked.
"None of the bears received any internal injuries and no spinal fractures occurred on any test," the Mirror quoted a white paper by the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council, which ran the tests as saying.
"One American Black bear was discovered on autopsy to have a laceration of the liver which was attributed partially to an overdose of anaesthesia," it said.
The four-engined B-58 Hustler flew at Mach 2 - twice the speed of sound - and was created at the height of the Cold War to drop bombs in case of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.
The animals were ejected at speeds up to Mach 1.6 at 45,000 feet in the tests, which took place in 1961 at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas.
The bear in a US Air Force video can be seen with its jaws tied shut being unfastened from a capsule by airmen after it landed and being stretchered away.
"On one hand, using bears for these tests was an extremely practical solution to the problem," Science writer Ed Grabianowski, of i09.com, said.
"The Air Force was working on a fix for something that had already caused human deaths.
"On the other hand, it's hard not to cringe when you imagine the terror and confusion these animals experienced.
"Luckily, the testing programme didn't last very long," he added. (ANI)
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