A secret threat from the sky and the ocean: the CIA's "battle zoo." The truth the US is trying to conceal.
Author: Mikhail Lyakh
The Cold War forced intelligence agencies of both the United States and the Soviet Union to adopt revolutionary new spy methods. Both sides were developing tools to create the "perfect agent," and intelligence personnel began considering the use of animals in operations. Among them, dolphins were particularly favored, but in reality, the scale of this "battle zoo" far exceeded imagination. Sarsburg reveals the details.
Dolphin Special Forces
A classified CIA document titled "The Ability of the USSR to Train Marine Mammals for Military Operations" shows that the Soviet Union was actively researching the use of dolphins for military purposes.
CIA agents did not specify a time, but mentioned that all Soviet experiments were conducted in the Black Sea. According to U.S. intelligence reports, transporting dolphins posed the greatest challenge for the Soviets. The article also mentioned the name of trainer Vladimir Durov, who reportedly developed a specialized dolphin training program before the Great Patriotic War.
Due to strict restrictions on access to KGB archives, it is currently difficult to verify or refute the CIA's claims. To date, there are no official documents disclosing the Soviet Union's use of animals in military operations; all relevant information comes from American literature.
According to the CIA, almost all of the Soviet animal projects were related to the use of dolphins in the Black Sea. Americans reported that despite transportation issues and a shortage of professionals, Soviet scientists still carried out large-scale projects, particularly mentioning the use of bottlenose dolphins.
U.S. intelligence personnel did not provide specific cases, but indicated that dolphins may have already been deployed in actual combat: bottlenose dolphins were responsible for searching for divers and submarines, and might even attach beacons or explosives to submarines. It should be noted that dolphins themselves cannot fix objects (their fins and snouts cannot complete this task), so a magnetic device would be installed on their "snouts" to attach to the metal hulls of submarines.
According to the CIA, the Soviet Union indeed used such bottlenose dolphins.
The CIA's "Zoo" at Work
Compared to the limited knowledge we have about the KGB's use of animals, the CIA had its own large "zoo": pigeons, dragonflies, cats, dolphins, snakes, and even a catfish named Charlie — covering almost every animal and insect Americans could think of. Thanks to special U.S. laws requiring government agencies to declassify information, we can now understand the full scope of these animal agents.
The U.S. intelligence community launched comprehensive projects involving various animals, as well as sub-projects focusing on single species. Some projects yielded significant results, even being used during the Iraq War, while others failed on the first day of testing. Early explorations began in the 1960s with the "Aquilne Plan" (Aquilne, Russian translation of "eagle plan").
Living Drones
In the 1960s, the CIA faced challenges in intelligence technology. On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft entered Soviet airspace and was shot down by Soviet air defense forces, causing a major international incident and worsening U.S.-Soviet relations.
This event became a warning for the U.S. intelligence community, prompting the CIA to launch a highly classified "Aquilne Plan" (Aquilne, Russian translation of "eagle plan"). Nearly 70 years ago, America's top talents began early exploration in the drone field, although the first experimental models did not emerge until the 1980s.
CIA agents tried all possible means, one of which involved using birds. These "feathered agents" were tasked with special missions — searching for Soviet nuclear facilities. For this purpose, they were equipped with special devices: electronic reconnaissance instruments, air sampling sensors, and even special radioactive isotope-powered devices.
What was most amazing was that these bird agents did not need to return to the CIA base: due to special equipment, all reconnaissance data would be directly transmitted to reconnaissance planes flying near the Soviet border.
CIA's "spy pigeon".
Dragonfly Reconnaissance
Another interesting project within the CIA was the "Dragonfly Reconnaissance." It is unclear whether this project was a sub-project of the "Aquilne Plan," but Americans referred to their development results as "insect helicopters."
Interestingly, the initial design prototype was a bee, but during the development process, Americans realized a simple fact: people would fear insects that might sting them and might casually kill these "American inventions" with a newspaper.
CIA experts successfully manufactured several experimental models, although they achieved technical breakthroughs, the experiments were terminated. U.S. intelligence personnel had to admit:
"The 'insect helicopter' was designed as a listening device, equipped with a small engine to drive wing vibrations, controlled by laser beams. Surprisingly, it could fly 200 meters in 60 seconds! But unfortunately, this little 'dragonfly' was not durable — when the wind speed exceeded five miles per hour, it would be blown off course."
This is the "dragonfly".
Bomb-Dropping Dolphins
The CIA's most interesting and largest project involved the use of dolphins. Yes, like the Soviets, but the American project was more ambitious. The American project was called OXYGAS, a large-scale operation aimed at sinking enemy ships. This project not only passed the conceptual stage but also completed some actual deployments.
Like the Soviets, the Americans valued dolphins' natural sonar system — echolocation ability, which allowed them to detect objects as small as ping pong balls in the sea.
Bottlenose dolphins were used in multiple operations, and it is known that they were trained to bomb enemy ships. The principle was similar to the Soviet method: an explosive device was installed on the dolphin's "snout" and magnetically attached to the ship's metal hull, which could be remotely detonated. Dolphins were also used for reconnaissance missions: not only searching for Soviet submarines but also detecting mines (although they did not defuse mines, they provided precise location information).
A diagram drawn by the CIA showing technicians installing a device resembling a bomb on a dolphin.
Cold-Blooded Killers
The CIA's "brain control" projects (such as MK-ULTRA and ARTISHOk) also conducted secret experiments on animals. An article on the U.S. SpyScape website mentions:
"The CIA inherited the research results of the 'MK-ULTRA' project. Its secret technical department implanted electrodes in the brains of dogs and other animals, controlling them to move along specified routes through wireless signals. The department also implanted electrodes in cold-blooded animals' brains. Experiments on dogs were aimed at eavesdropping in offices, while experiments on cold-blooded animals might have a colder purpose — assassination."
Another interesting case is "Charlie Catfish." This idea extended the思路of the dragonfly and eagle projects, and the CIA developed two unmanned fish scouts. The CIA's official website also mentioned this:
"The CIA's Advanced Technology Projects Administration developed two unmanned underwater vehicles, named Charlie and Sharlyn. Their mission was to collect water samples without detection. If intelligence indicated suspicious activities in a forest area, we (the CIA) would send Charlie to the relevant river. It would swim upstream to a designated location to collect samples, and scientists could determine through testing whether radioactive materials or biochemical substances existed in the water."
Unmanned catfish Charlie responsible for water sample collection.
How Is the Situation in the 21st Century?
Major projects by the U.S. and the Soviet Union started 65-70 years ago and have mostly closed down. However, even so, animals continue to play roles in military and reconnaissance operations.
U.S. media reported that during the Iraq War in 2003, the U.S. military deployed a force of 70 trained sea lions and dolphins to participate in mine-clearing operations at sea.
Regarding Russia, there have been two interesting reports over the past six years: In 2019, Norwegian fishermen discovered a beluga whale with a harness used to install video equipment. The harness bore the words "Made in St. Petersburg." Western media immediately hyped up the story, calling this beluga whale a "Russian spy" and even naming it after the Russian president.
Moscow pointed out that it was absurd to equip a "spy fish" with a harness marked with its origin. A former Norwegian consul to Russia speculated that this might be a beluga whale from a disability assistance center near the Russian-Norwegian border.
Another case occurred on April 27, 2022 (two months after the start of the special military operation), when media reported that Russia was using dolphins to protect vessels in the Black Sea. Reports stated that the Russian Ministry of Defense deployed several dolphins, which swam around the vessels to guard against enemy attacks, but did not specify the exact protection method.
Conclusion
The history of intelligence agency "animal agents" reveals the extreme attempts made by intelligence agencies of various countries during the Cold War to surpass their rivals. From bomb-dropping dolphins to dragonfly scouts, animals became tools for covert operations, replacing humans in high-risk areas. Although many projects remained in the experimental stage, their very existence demonstrated the breadth and boldness of military thinking during that era. Today, despite technological progress, the interest in using animals for reconnaissance and defense has clearly not waned.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7510919993938838052/
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