{"id":59854,"date":"2026-05-05T14:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/speculation-over-secret-us-fleet-of-kamikaze-dolphins-grows-after-odd-pete-hegseth-admission\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T14:14:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:14:00","slug":"speculation-over-secret-us-fleet-of-kamikaze-dolphins-grows-after-odd-pete-hegseth-admission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/speculation-over-secret-us-fleet-of-kamikaze-dolphins-grows-after-odd-pete-hegseth-admission\/","title":{"rendered":"Speculation over secret US fleet of &#8216;kamikaze dolphins&#8217; grows after odd Pete Hegseth admission"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"js-article-text\">\n<ul>\n<li class><strong>Politics is fast. We&#8217;re faster. Sign up to the DC Insider newsletter for a front-row seat to Washington&#8230; and unlock 3 FREE months of DailyMail+ <a class rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/link.news.dailymail.co.uk\/join\/dc-insider-sign-up?utm_source=dailymail.co.uk&#038;utm_medium=organic_editorial&#038;utm_campaign=conversion_newsletter&#038;utm_term=dcinsider_bullets&#038;utm_budgetpot=organic\">HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/profile-962\/jon-michael-raasch.html\">JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?screen_name=JMRaasch&#038;tw_p=followbutton\"><span><\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n<p><span> <span>Published:<\/span> <time datetime=\"2026-05-05T16:04:15+0100\"> 11:04 EDT, 5 May 2026 <\/time> <\/span> | <span> <span>Updated:<\/span> <time datetime=\"2026-05-05T18:14:24+0100\"> 13:14 EDT, 5 May 2026 <\/time> <\/span> <\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Secretary of War <a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/media\/pete-hegseth\/index.html\" id=\"mol-bbfedf20-488c-11f1-a7cd-e3a9b6aedaba\">Pete Hegseth<\/a>gave an eyebrow-raising answer when pressed on whether the US has a fleet of deadly aquatic animals.<\/p>\n<p>Recent reports have suggested that Iran is turning to marine mammals to fight against US forces in the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict continues.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Iranian officials said Tehran could use previously unused weapons to attack U.S. warships, from submarines to mine-carrying dolphins,&#8217; a Wall Street Journal report from last week stated.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth was asked to &#8216;clarify&#8217; reports of Iran&#8217;s use of &#8216;kamikaze dolphins&#8217; during a <a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/the-pentagon\/index.html\" id=\"mol-42082b20-4893-11f1-bb3c-4dbec3ad5168\">Pentagon<\/a> press briefing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The question about the use of &#8216;deadly&#8217; marine mammals stunned Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine.<\/p>\n<p>A smirking Caine responded, &#8216;I haven&#8217;t heard the kamikaze dolphin thing. It&#8217;s kind of like sharks with laser beams,&#8217; he added, referencing the Austin Powers movie series.<\/p>\n<p>Then Hegseth answered, grinning:&#8217;I can&#8217;t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they [<a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/iran\/index.html\" id=\"mol-bc063220-488c-11f1-a7cd-e3a9b6aedaba\">Iran<\/a>] don&#8217;t.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The odd response prompted speculation about the US&#8217;s fielding of military marine life online, though some quickly discovered the Pentagon has a long-reported history of using dolphins for military purposes.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday he could not confirm or deny that the US military uses &#8216;kamikaze dolphins&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine joked that the dolphins reminded him of the Austin Powers movies<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The US Navy Marine Mammal Program trains dolphins to detect items at sea<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8216;Since 1959, the U.S. Navy has trained dolphins and sea lions as teammates for our Sailors and Marines to help guard against similar threats underwater,&#8217; theNaval Information Warfare Center&#8217;s website states.<\/p>\n<p>It trains dolphins and sea lions to detect items of military interest and perform reconnaissance in oceans and harbors.<\/p>\n<p>As the US-Iran ceasefire holds despite some small skirmishes, and the US blockade on the Strait of Hormuz continues to stress the Islamic Republic, officials are considering the use of demolition dolphins.<\/p>\n<p>Though Iran has not stated it is fielding the animals as a deterrent against US forces, the country does have a history of acquiring war-fighting marine life.<\/p>\n<p>Iran purchased at least four Soviet-trained combat dolphins in 2000, according to a BBC report from the time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The animals were trained to attack enemy frogmen with harpoons attached to their backs, or to drag them to the surface to be taken into captivity,&#8217; the article states.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;They could also undertake kamikaze strikes against enemy shipping carrying mines that would explode a ship on contact with its hull,&#8217; it continues.<\/p>\n<p>The Strait of Hormuz also has several native species of dolphins that could potentially be trained for military use.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Iran&#8217;s consulate in Hyderabad, India, posted this AI image mocking US reports about &#8216;kamikaze dolphins&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A dolphin jumps in front of the Virginia-class attack submarine USS John Warner as the boat conducts sea trials May 21, 2015 in the Atlantic Ocean<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A dolphin from the U.S. Navy&#8217;s Marine Mammal Program flies aboard a C-17 Globemaster III operated by the 446th Airlift Wing March 13, 2017. The dolphins perform underwater surveillance and object detection<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Hyderabad, India, joked about the reports, posting an AI-generated meme of dolphins at war.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;They&#8217;ve finally spilled the beans, it&#8217;s all out now,&#8217; the consulate&#8217;s X account wrote in response to a New York Post report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>                                                                                                                                  <ad-slot position=\"smart_feed\"><\/ad-slot>                                                                <ad-slot position=\"after_article\"><\/ad-slot>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Politics is fast. We&#8217;re faster. Sign up to the DC Insider newsletter for a front-row seat to Washington&#8230; and unlock 3 FREE months of DailyMail+ HERE By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 11:04 EDT, 5 May 2026 | Updated: 13:14 EDT, 5 May 2026 Secretary of War Pete Hegsethgave an eyebrow-raising answer when [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-donald-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}