Russia’s defense ministry is looking to purchase five dolphins to add to its military arsenal, the Kremlin revealed on Wednesday, a throwback to the country’s Soviet-era use of sea mammals for military spying missions.
The military has opened bidding on a 1.75 million ruble ($24,000) contract to deliver dolphins to the military in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol by Aug. 1, according to a document uploaded Wednesday to the government’s procurement website, the Agence France Presse reported.
The contract said Russia is seeking two female and three male dolphins between the ages of 3 and 5 with perfect teeth and no physical impairments.
Although the use of the marine mammals in military missions may seem far-fetched, it is not the first time a major country has sought after the animals, which are known for their intelligence and echolocation capabilities.
In fact, both the Soviet Union and the United States used dolphins at the height of the Cold War to detect submarines, underwater mines and spot suspicious objects or individuals near their harbors and ships.
The U.S. Navy still uses sea mammals to aid with military tasks today. The Pentagon deployed sea lions to Bahrain in 2003 to support Operation Enduring Freedom after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Dolphins became part of the arms race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union after Russian intelligence discovered the tasks U.S.-trained dolphins were completing in the 1960s.
Russia then began to train its own dolphins to be used in combat to help plant explosive devices on enemy vessels and to detect abandoned torpedoes and sunken ships.
Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in March 2014, has housed the Soviet dolphin training facility since 1965, AFP reported.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the training center was abandoned, and the dolphins were reportedly sold to Iran.
The Ukrainian navy reopened the training facility in 2012, which later fell under Moscow’s control.
In August, Hamas announced it had captured a dolphin it believed was spying for Israel.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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