Ukraine resumes training of combat dolphins - in their own and Russian interests
In Sevastopol, the special program of training dolphins for combat purposes is being revived: animals, like in the USSR, will be taught to fight in diver diverts, search for mines, swim with weapons on the head and undermine the ships. On the Black Sea coast, similar programs existed since 1973, but with the transition of Sevastopol to Ukraine, they were curtailed and used by dolphins for therapeutic purposes, reports NEWSru.ua. Now they decided to revive the training of combat animals - this is beneficial for Ukraine and Russia, experts say.
"Now in the state aquarium of Ukraine in Sevastopol are preparing ten bottlenose dolphins to fulfill the military’s special tasks fleet Of Ukraine, regularly in the waters of Sevastopol, the Ukrainian military conducts training of animals to search for objects at the bottom of the sea, "RIA leads"News"the words of its source in the power structures of Sevastopol.
In the 1990-s, as explained by the source, intended for the combat training of animals used for peaceful purposes - a special therapy was developed for the treatment of children with disabilities. This made it possible to earn money for the maintenance of other animals, and it was reported that the preparation of combat dolphins was on the verge of extinction. "By and large, the program for training animals for military purposes has never stopped, but it has not been advertised, either," said an agency source.
In the world there are only two training centers for combat dolphins: in Sevastopol and in San Diego (USA). The military can use these animals for a variety of purposes: for example, dolphins can attack ships with explosives attached to their heads. They can also attack divers-saboteurs - for this, the animal’s head is armed with a pistol or knife. Dolphins are also effective in search operations - with their help, the military can explore the bottom and detect mines.
Sevastopol specialists, who started training combat animals only this year, have already managed to achieve some success. “The tasks were carried out, our dolphins found the object and touched it with a device mounted on the head, after which a buoy was shot to the surface,” the source told RIA Novosti. Now animals are trained to protect ships from saboteurs.
Ukrainian dolphins will guard and Russian ships
Not only the Naval Forces of Ukraine, but also the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation are located on the coast of Sevastopol, therefore the use of dolphins in this area is beneficial for Russia, the chairman of the public council at the Russian Defense Ministry, chief editor of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko is convinced.
"The Ukrainian experience in training maritime animals deserves unconditional attention. Their use in the waters of the Sevastopol bays where the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the Naval Forces of Ukraine are based is in the interests of the fleets of both countries and is an important factor in joint anti-sabotage defense," the expert explained.
Information about whether there are Russian programs for the use of dolphins for military purposes has not been disclosed. Korochenko is sure that such dolphins do not train in Russia, but in the future they can take these programs into service and enter their funding into the state armaments program until 2020.
In the USSR, dolphin training programs appeared in the 1973 year, and in the US Army these animals have been serving the last 50 years. The bottlenose dolphins were used during a military operation in Iraq: animals searched for mines in the water spaces of the port of Umm Qasr. However, in the Soviet Union not only dolphins were trained for military purposes, but also seals, sea lions and killer whales.
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