Russia looks to buy five dolphins with perfect teeth and killer instinct

March 10, 2016 02:05

Russia's defence ministry is looking to buy five dolphins, the government has revealed, as the country strives to revive its Soviet-era use of sea mammals for military tasks.

The military has opened the bidding on a 1.75m ruble (17,000) contract to deliver dolphins to the military in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol by 1 August, according to a document uploaded on Wednesday to the governments procurement website.

According to public contract documentation, it is seeking two female and three male dolphins between three and five years old with perfect teeth and no physical impairments.

An unnamed source told the RIA Novosti state news agency in March 2014 that new training programmes were being designed to make the dolphins serve Russias military interests.

Dolphins were used by the Soviet Union and United States at the height of the cold war, having been trained to detect submarines, underwater mines and spot suspicious objects or individuals near harbours and ships.

Retired Colonel Viktor Baranets, who observed military dolphin training in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, said that the sea mammals were part of the broader cold war arms race between the USSR and the United States.

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