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Naval Defense Industry News - Russia |
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Russian
Defense Ministry has decided to buy five dolphins |
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The
Russian Defense Ministry plans to acquire five bottle-nosed dolphins
for 1.75 million rubles ($24,500), according to the governmental acquisition
website. |
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Navy marine mammal handler Electronic Technician 2nd Class Eric Kenas
shows how a trained dolphin reacts to different hand gestures, during
Lead Shield III/Roguex V, an exercise to test port facility anti-terrorism
readiness. The Coast Guard and Navy conducted the two exercises around
the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The combined exercise involved
24 local, state and federal agencies in an effort to disrupt a simulated
terrorist attack, respond to the consequences and maintain port operations.
(Picture US Navy) |
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According
to the tender documentation available there, the Russian military requires
two males and three females of the species, aged three to five years
old. The ministry is going to buy dolphins measuring 2.3 m to 2.7 m
in length. It emphasized that the dolphins should "display motion
activity."
Bottle-nosed dolphins should be caught in the presence of a marine mammal
veterinarian and be transported by cargo vehicles in seawater-filled
reservoirs.
The dolphins must spend a month in quarantine at a facility "provided
by the contractor."
The tender documentation has not specified the reason, for which the
Defense Ministry needs dolphins.
The media reported in late 2014 that the Russian Navy’s Black
Sea Fleet had conducted exercises involving combat dolphins. The ministry
denied the reports. Its spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, stressed: "There
is no need for exotic methods to secure the littorals whatsoever."
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