Ukraine's combat dolphins lethal after Russian takeover

Ray

The Chairman
Professional
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
43,132
Likes
23,834
Ukraine's combat dolphins to become more lethal after Russian takeover


Control of the combat dolphin program is another of Russia's gains

Control of the combat dolphin program is another of the gains Russia has made since taking over Crimea. Based in Sevastopol, it sees dolphins trained to patrol open water and engage scuba divers, also called frogmen, in underwater combat.

The program, dating back to the 1960s, was due to be disbanded by the Ukrainian navy in April but Russia has decided instead to develop new equipment to boost the dolphin's "operational efficiency".

"The oceanarium's engineers are developing new instruments for new applications to boost the operational efficiency of the dolphins underwater," an employee, who requested anonymity, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

The employee said the animals, which can also attack or attach buoys to items of military interest such as mines on the sea floor, were currently using extremely outdated equipment.

"Our experts have developed new devices, which convert the detection of objects by the dolphins' underwater sonar to a signal on an operator's monitor.
"But the Ukrainian Navy lacked the funds for such know-how, and some projects had to be shuttered."

The source said he hoped the Russian navy would support the combat program, which also trains sea lions.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the dolphin program was handed to the Ukrainian navy. The dolphins were initially retrained to work with disabled children and for other civilian uses. Military training was restarted in 2011.

The United States is the only other country to have a combat dolphin training centre, run by the US Navy in San Diego.

Ukraine's combat dolphins to become more lethal after Russian takeover | News.com.au

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Russians handed over trained combat dolphins to Ukraine.

Does indicate the faith they had in the Ukrainians.

These dolphins can be lethal and it surely is a loss for Ukraine and the backers of Ukraine.

Dolphins have surely been put to good use it appears by the US and Russia!
 

rock127

Maulana Rockullah
Senior Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2009
Messages
10,569
Likes
25,230
Country flag
Interesting...but how effective is this? Is this limited to just surveillance stuff or more?
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top