乌克兰海军为战争训练海豚

Killer dolphins with knives and pistols attached to their heads might sound crazy, but thats reportedly what one countrys navy is exploring.

According to RIA Novosti, the Ukrainian navy has restarted special training for dolphins and other animals for military duties including attacking enemy combat swimmers and detecting mines.

While the idea of 1)militarized dolphins sounds a bit out there, theres actually a history behind it.

According to PBS, the United States began using 2)tactically trained marine 3)mammals in the 1960s, and the Soviet Union started training sea creatures in the 1970s. The U.S. program reached its peak during the Cold War, when it had “over 100 dolphins, as well as numerous sea lions and 4)beluga whales, and an operating budget of$8 million.”

And CBS News reports theyre still 5)seeing action. “In the early days of the Iraq war, Navy dolphins were deployed to clear mines from the port of 6)Umm Qasr.”

Despite the history of such programs, only the U.S. and Ukraine have trained dolphins for those roles. A blogger for WIRED believes theres a reason more countries dont have similar programs.

“Theres a big risk in arming dolphins, as they could easily become a danger to your own side. Since dolphins cannot discern the difference between enemy and friendly vessels, or enemy and friendly divers and swimmers, it would not be wise to give that kind of decision authority to an animal.”

The Ukrainian dolphin base 7)allegedly has carried out several exercises with the dolphins in finding underwater weapons.

把海豚打造成杀手——将刀和手枪绑在它们头上——这听起来挺不可思议，但据说有一个国家的海军正在探寻这样的方式。

根据俄罗斯国际新闻通讯社报道，乌克兰海军重启海豚以及其他动物特殊训练计划，让它们执行军事任务，包括攻击敌方蛙人以及探测鱼雷。

这个海豚军事化训练计划听起来有点不靠谱，但事实上，这背后还有一段历史。

根据美国公共广播公司网站上的资料，早在上世纪六十年代，美国就开始了对海洋哺乳动物进行战术训练，而苏联则在上世纪七十年代开始对海洋动物进行训练。美国该项计划在冷战时期达到顶峰，当时，“超过100头海豚，无数头海狮和白鲸包括在内，执行费用高达8百万美元之多”。

哥伦比亚广播公司新闻报道，受过训的海洋动物如今仍然参加战斗，“伊拉克战争早期，海军海豚被部署到乌姆盖斯尔港口进行排雷行动。”

尽管这样的训练计划早有先例，但也只是美国和乌克兰训练海豚作军事用途。一位连线网站的博客主相信，有个重要原因促使更多国家不这么做。

“把海豚武装起来其实有相当大的风险，因为它们很容易就成为我方的危险。因为海豚不能辨别敌方和我方船只，敌方或是我方的潜水人和蛙人，因此把决定权交给海豚是不明智的。”

据称，乌克兰的海豚基地已经在好几次演习中利用海豚找寻海底武器了。