Nonhuman Espionage Agents: The World's Most Bizarre Secret Weapons
(MENAFN- Asia Times)
The death of a spy is rarely newsworthy, due to the secrecy surrounding it. But by the time a white beluga whale suspected of spying for Moscow was found dead in Norwegian waters in September, the animal had become a minor celebrity .
Hvaldimir (a play on the Norwegian word for whale, hval, and the first name of Russian president) was even given an official autopsy by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries .
The whale had been uncovered as a spy in 2019, and is one in a long line of animals that have been used by the intelligence services.
One Soviet program to train marine animals as spies and assassins collapsed in 1991.
The US ran similar experiments with animals, some dating back to the 1960s. One of the CIA's more unusual attempts to use animals as spies was Operation Acoustic Kitty .
The idea was to implant a microphone and antenna into the cat and use it to eavesdrop on potentially interesting conversations. The test of the“prototype” went horribly wrong when the cat wandered off and was run over by a taxi, leading to the programme being quickly abandoned.
A more successful example was the use of spy pigeons. Equipped with tiny cameras, pigeons could easily access otherwise restricted areas and take photos without arousing suspicion before safely returning to home base using their extraordinary homing ability .
From animals to machines
Over time, technology created opportunities to exploit the stealthiness that's characteristic of animals while eliminating the unpredictability. Project Aquiline aimed to create a bird-like drone fully equipped in the style of more traditional spy planes, but smaller and more versatile so it could get closer to its targets.
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