Navy dolphins....

[Kurushio]

Are navy dolphins given suicide missions? I would find this a great pity....such intelligent animals. Here's a navy dolphin having his teeth cleaned (before a date?). :lol: http://www.combatindex.com/hardware/images/animals/dolphins/dolphin_04.jpg

Anyone here ever served with one of these dolphins?

[SubSerpent]

I think the USN uses them for scientific studies to improve on underwater operations. It's sad that our military, with the thousands of troops that make it up, depends on a fish to show them how things are done. :nope:

[Kurushio]

I think the USN uses them for scientific studies to improve on underwater operations. It's sad that our military, with the thousands of troops that make it up, depends on a fish to show them how things are done. :nope:

LOL....dolphins aren't "fish", they're mammals. Like us. By the way, they said dolphins are given names soon after birth and don't respond unless addressed ny their name first...intelligent creatures. I love dolphins (baked, not fried). J/k. :88)

[Egan]

I think the USN uses them for scientific studies to improve on underwater operations. It's sad that our military, with the thousands of troops that make it up, depends on a fish to show them how things are done. :nope:

LOL....dolphins aren't "fish", they're mammals. Like us. By the way, they said dolphins are given names soon after birth and don't respond unless addressed ny their name first...intelligent creatures. I love dolphins (baked, not fried). J/k. :88)

Yup. According to new studies Dolphins really do have names in the wild which they respond to as individuals.

Just thank God they haven't evolved opposable thumbs.....

[SeaQueen]

Are navy dolphins given suicide missions?

No, but they are trained to do very dangerous things like scouting the way through minefields and marking the mines. They're actually a very important part of amphibious operations. The different marine mammals can find mines buried in the bottom and in the water column, in difficult acoustic environments, better than anything we have now.

They also use seals (not SEALs, but "arf arf" seals) for harbor security. Apparently, a swimmer attempting to attach a mine to the bottom of a ship, is probably going to get his butt kicked by one. They're sort of like the german shepards of the ocean.

[diver]

Are navy dolphins given suicide missions?

No, but they are trained to do very dangerous things like scouting the way through minefields and marking the mines. They're actually a very important part of amphibious operations. The different marine mammals can find mines buried in the bottom and in the water column, in difficult acoustic environments, better than anything we have now.

They also use seals (not SEALs, but "arf arf" seals) for harbor security. Apparently, a swimmer attempting to attach a mine to the bottom of a ship, is probably going to get his butt kicked by one. They're sort of like the german shepards of the ocean.

They are imprtant, except when they run away like in Iraq 2003.

I just dont see how its viable to take a zoo of sea creatures around the world for operations.

[GhOsT55]

not just that but they are used for minesweeping hostile diver and the put a giaint clamp on the leg of the diver trying to get in to a harbor

[SeaQueen]

They are imprtant, except when they run away like in Iraq 2003.


Not all of them ran away. And it turned up again too!

I don't know much about how they actually get them from place to place. It'd be interesting to know. I'll have to ask someone about that.

[Bellman]

:lol: SQ: ''Not all of them ran away. ''

Seems the US of A has problems developing advanced UUVs but has bred Dolphins with legs. Wow ! :ping:

So should'nt be a problem for the wizard LW to tweak a torp conversion to a UUV - and for PC call it a Dolphin ! :D

[Kurushio]

Well at least that's one weapon the "evil empire" wont be able to emulate anytime soon. You could imagine Iran turning them into suicide dolphins.

I never knew about them guarding ports though...putting a giant clamp on the hostile divers ankle? Why doesn't it just flipper him to death?

[LuftWolf]

A dolphin can generate a very significant amount of force and deliver it on a very small portion of a adversary's body.

It is not unheard of for dolphins to kill sharks, they have several significant advantages... the most significant of which is not having to fight the sharks unless they have a good reason.

Cheers,
David

[Ironclad2]

Dolphins and sea lions are actually termed Marine Mammal Systems Mk. 4 and Mk. 7 by the U.S. Navy. As was said before, they serve both mine countermeasure and harbor security roles. They've been in use, more or less, since the 1970's.

I did some research on them as part of a paper this past semester. In mine countermeasure operations, they'll swim alongside a small craft (usually a zodiac) and tap a small paddle each time they find a mine. They'll then be given an acoustic marker to place on the mine. As was said before, they're pretty much the only method we have of reliably finding buried mines.

To get from place to place, they'll actually be air-lifted on C-5's in huge saltwater swimming pools. Once on station, they'll be kept in larger specially-built tanks aboart a landing vessel, or something else with a well deck.

The one that "swam away" during the Iraq conflict was actually thought to have been attacked by marine mammals native to the area, sort of a territorial dispute.

[TLAM Strike]

The one that "swam away" during the Iraq conflict was actually thought to have been attacked by marine mammals native to the area, sort of a territorial dispute.
The Iraqi Elite Cetacean Guard?

[Kurushio]

To be honest, I don't really like the idea of using these animals...not anymore, anyway. They are a product of the Cold War and as we all know, the Soviets had at least some morales compared to the goat-herding psychos we come up against nowadays. I see a scenario where, to combat these Navy animals, a nation like Iran will poison the whole Straits of Hormuz just to kill a handful of dolphins. We are dealing with callous imbeciles...we need to adapt our tactics.

Tactical nukes would seem to work well...give them a taste of their own medicine.

[TLAM Strike]

...the Soviets had at least some morales compared to the goat-herding psychos we come up against nowadays. Did you know the Soviets developed a motor (the M-107) especially for animal transport (I think goats or mules) for their mountain troops? So goat-herding psychos you say... hmmm... :hmm: