With their intelligence and "excellent biological sonar," as SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific's Ed Budzyna put it (per Business Insider), they are adept at any and every such task put to them. Dolphins World reports that the former USSR conducted similar work to America but that their operations seemingly ceased with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, in 2015, Russia announced its intention to purchase five great specimens to serve as what the outlet deemed "combat dolphins," per Slate.
Though the cunning cetaceans haven't actually fought, they have served important roles in the Vietnam War, protecting craft and personnel at the U.S. installation at Cam Rahn Bay. And in the Iran-Iraq War, they were used as surveillance in the Persian Gulf. Still, the ethics of such programs and their shortcomings remain controversial. Ric O'Barry, who trained the dolphins that appeared in the "Flipper" television series and later founded The Dolphin Project to advocate for the captive creatures, wrote on the organization's official website that "dolphins are not dependable — they are controlled by food ... These dolphins don't understand anything about warfare — it is a game to them; a way to get fed."
