The news was picked up by all Russian networks.
The Ukrainian defense ministry, 13 last February, announced the closure of the program due to lack of funds.
However, the annexation of the peninsula by Moscow has upset the previous directives of Kiev. Indeed, the Russian defense ministry has the necessary funds and know-how to increase the capacity of Ukrainian dolphins, equipped with obsolete equipment.
Moscow has been training and using sea lions for decades to protect its coasts from enemy enemies.
The Sevastopol aquarium is one of the two centers in the world for fighting dolphin training. The other is managed by the US Navy, in San Diego, in the Marine Mammal Program.
According to the official websites of the Ukrainian navy, the dolphin training aquarium for the Soviet navy dates back to the 1960. They have been trained both to detect military equipment at the bottom of the sea and to attack sub-enemies.
In the 1980, training included anti-sabotage and rescue operations.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the entire dolphin training section and its specialists switched to the Ukrainian navy. They were then used for civil tasks (such as the treatment of some childhood neurological diseases), in order to keep the unit intact.
In the 2011, the Ukrainian defense ministry has restarted the specific formation of dolphins for combat.
The timing of the Russians is also surprising. We are certainly not saying that the annexation of Crimea was fueled by Moscow, but it is undoubtedly a fortuitous coincidence. If the annexation with the Russian federation had taken place in a few weeks, the mammals would have already been sold to the aquariums of the planet by March. Moscow would therefore have missed the opportunity to absorb dolphins in its ranks, considering the excellence of the structure and its uniqueness, finding an empty aquarium. Only a mere coincidence has given the Russians the ability to increase their "animal military" component in an area that is still unable to defend itself against Western naval forces.
Marine Mammal Program
The US Navy uses five teams of marine mammals, each with a specific mission profile. Each team, made up of a man and an animal, is known in the jargon with the acronym MK followed by a number. The MK 4,7 and 8 teams use only dolphins. The MK 5 team uses sea lions while the MK 6 uses both mammals. Teams can be deployed with up to 72 hours notice worldwide.
Dolphins have been used in Vietnam for ten years, and in the 2003 in the Persian Gulf.
Franco Iacch
(photo: US DoD / US Navy)
